The Woodland Police Department and Yolo County District Attorney’s Office conducted a sting last week targeting people who solicit or attempt to buy sex acts. During the operation, five male subjects responded to a fictitious advertisement via text message and solicited sex acts with undercover officers.
After the men who responded to the ad agreed to meet with who they thought was a prostitute, each was arrested and was booked at the Yolo County Jail, where each was charged with solicitation of prostitution, a misdemeanor.
Their names were not released.
“Prostitution and sex trafficking is a pervasive industry that especially exploits women and children. In this illicit trade, women and children are often coerced to live in dangerous and violent conditions,” Woodland police Sgt. Dallas Hyde said in a news release.
“Although viewed as a victimless crime by some, the sex-trafficking industry subjects women and children to a cycle of trauma and degradation that can permanently impact them and their families.”
The Woodland Police Department and Yolo County District Attorney’s Office will continue to conduct operations designed to identify and arrest those who participate in the prostitution and sex-trafficking industries, Hyde said.