Most of the arrestees were Southwest Riverside County residents from Temecula, Menifee, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore.
A law enforcement operation targeting online prostitution and people who seek it netted 13 arrests in Murrieta.
During the July 25 sting, one woman was identified as a human trafficking victim and accepted outreach and diversion services, while 12 men and one woman were arrested for solicitation of prostitution, according to the Murrieta Police Department.
Most of the arrestees were Southwest Riverside County residents from Temecula, Menifee, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore. Six other arrestees were from Perris, Chino Hills, Montclair, San Diego, Moreno Valley and Long Beach.
Online prostitution stings usually involve law enforcement personnel placing decoy posts on popular classified websites commonly used for the solicitation of prostitution.
When potential customers respond to the ads, an agreement for paid sex is brokered by an undercover deputy. The buyers are then arrested when they arrive at an agreed-upon rendezvous spot.
Murrieta police said the sting “focused on rescuing victims of sexual slavery and human trafficking, identifying and arresting their captors, and disrupting demand for these vulnerable victims.
“Ninety-five percent of sex trafficking victims are women or children,” the law enforcement agency continued. “Those victimized by commercial sexual exploitation frequently have long histories of emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse or trauma in their backgrounds.”
Sex buyers fuel the illicit sex trafficking underground economy, according to the police department.
The July 25 operation was conducted by the Murrieta Police Department in partnership with the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force.
