Nearly 30 men from across the region were arrested during a two-day human-trafficking-suppression operation last week, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Special Investigations Group’s operation was, “focused on reducing demand for purchased sex,” a news release said, specifically targeting those attempting to purchase sex through online classified advertisements.
That is a tactic “regularly used” by traffickers to market victims of human trafficking, the release said.
Undercover detectives posed as individuals offering sex for money, and when offenders arrived at a Gurnee-area hotel and offered money for sexual acts, they were arrested and transported to the Lake County jail.
The release said that while some may perceive prostitution as a consensual transaction between adults, “experience and investigative work” have shown many of those being sold for sex are not participating willingly.
Traffickers can force victims into prostitution with physical violence, manipulation, fraud or coercion, and many of them are vulnerable and live in fear of repercussions if they don’t comply, often being forced to surrender money they receive to their trafficker.
“These operations are about protecting victims and holding sex buyers accountable,” Sheriff John D. Idleburg said. “Suppressing the demand is a critical piece of dismantling the human trafficking pipeline. If there is no buyer, there is no market.”
Two of the offenders resisted arrest during the operation, according to the release, with one instance resulting in minor injuries to an officer, and the other causing damage to a hotel hallway, the release said.
Those arrested ranged in age from 21 to 61. The 27 men arrested came from across Lake County and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.
All those arrested were charged with one count of soliciting a sexual act. They were cited, processed at the Lake County jail and released pending a future court date, the release said.