Five persons were arrested on a variety of charges connected to human trafficking on Thursday according to Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Captain Matt Spence. The Sheriff’s Office worked closely with the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, the Plymouth, Kohler, Sheboygan Falls, Elkhart Lake and Sheboygan Police Departments along with the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Sheboygan County District Attorney’s Office. The arrests were the result of an undercover operation targeting Human Trafficking as it relates to Prostitution and Solicitation of Prostitution.
Two of the subjects arrested were from Sheboygan County, while the other three were from adjacent counties, and were identified by investigators using popular, publicly available online websites that have been specifically generated for the purpose of connecting individuals in order to arrange sexual encounters in exchange for money.
As a result, four counts of Pandering – Soliciting were issued, and one count was issued for Solicitation of Prostitutes.
The Sheriff’s Office said that operations such as this are conducted to attempt to combat human sex trafficking in and around the community, and if the situation dictates, prostitutes who are at high risk of human trafficking, domestic violence, physical assaults and other life-changing and degrading outcomes are connected with community resources.
The Office concluded by saying that “As evidenced by the partnerships involved in this operation, Human Sex Trafficking at any level will not be tolerated by our law enforcement agencies in Sheboygan County.”
