Inside a Chicago sex sting: The high price of a quick visit
FOX 32's inside look at a Chicago sex sting
Chicago’s Cook County Sheriff’s Department conducted an undercover sting operation targeting men attempting to buy sex, resulting in 24 citations, hefty fines, and a confrontation with the realities of human trafficking.
CHICAGO - A night of action. The phones wouldn't stop.
What we know:
Inside a Chicago hotel, five undercover female police officers from the Cook County Sheriff's Department are posing as sex workers to catch men looking to buy.
"The goal is to get the guys to come to the hotel," said Lt. Jim Draz with the Cook County Sheriff’s Police. "Once they're here, they'll come in here and make a deal, and we'll go from there."
The so-called "johns" are on the hunt, lusting for paid sex acts. A "QV", or quick visit, buys them 15 minutes. But tonight, they’ll be getting way more than they bargained for. It’s a sting operation.
"They [undercover officers] may be talking to anywhere from 10 to 15 at the same time," Draz said.
One room holds the undercover officers, dressed to bait. In another, the takedown team is waiting.
"We will watch out there, watching for him to go in. As soon as he goes in, then we’re going to come right behind him," Draz explained.
A man in his 20s was the first customer reeled in.
What's different about this operation: instead of being taken to jail, they’re slapped with a $1,000 fine and their cars are towed.
"We search the car before it's towed just to make sure nothing is in there that’s not supposed to be," Draz said.
There’s a $500 fee plus impound costs. It could cost nearly $2,000 for what they thought would be a quick escape to pleasure. They aren't fully arrested, but they are given a lesson.
"I was home, and I was being [expletive] stupid," the john said. "I should have just went inside the house and started playing video games."
The john said it was his first time, but Draz isn’t buying it.
"I don't, no. I don't because we hear that often. And with as many first-timers as we've had alleged to us, I just I don't buy it," Draz said.
The Reality of Human Trafficking
The men lured in by these ads didn’t consider one crucial detail: human trafficking is real, and they are part of the problem.
Cinthya Gonzalez, a victim support specialist with the Cook County Sheriff's Department, lays it all out for them.
"Trafficking involves people who are forced into these situations of either exchanging sex or for work purposes. And so you don't know the people who are on these ads are being forced against their will," Gonzalez told the john.
One after one, the johns get caught red-handed - cash, condoms and regret on full display. The john wasn’t the only one caught off guard.
Not Everyone Agrees
What they're saying:
It’s an issue advocates for sex workers are shining a light on.
"Violence is not inherent in the sex trades, but criminalization has forced sex workers underground," said Darci Flynn, chair of Freedom Network USA, an anti-human trafficking group.
Not everyone agrees with stings. Some Illinois lawmakers are pushing for full decriminalization of sex work, arguing that criminalization only drives workers underground.
If passed, the bill would erase past sex work convictions, remove employment barriers, end government interference in consensual adult transactions and establish a "sex workers bill of rights."
A Sheriff's Perspective
The other side:
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart isn’t convinced.
"Are you trying to tell me that there's any set of parents anywhere on this planet that when their daughter is born, and they're looking at that little angel, and they’re holding her hand, they're saying, ‘You know what? Oh my God, I hope she grows up to be a sex worker. Oh my God, that would be our dream.’ I mean, give me a break," Dart said.
Dart introduced the "John" sting operation in 2009. So far, more than 2,400 have been cited. He said it gets at the core of decreasing demand.
"We would go out, arrest the prostitute, bring them in. They would be released within a short time. They would go right back pretty much to where they were before," Dart said.
The American Journal of Public Health found that between 45% and 75% of all sex workers worldwide will experience violence.
"It's there. It's there, we all know it. And so, the legalization thing - that doesn't get around any of that," Dart said.
Twenty-four men thought they were paying for a good time. What they got instead was a one-way ticket into handcuffs, hefty fines, and a harsh reality check - confronted with a survivor’s story, a perspective that can change everything.
"Don’t do anything to contribute to any sex trafficking. I know that naturally, but it hits different when you look at it from a different perspective," one of the johns said.
The Source: Fox 32's Tia Ewing accompanied the Cook County Sheriff's Department on a sex sting at a Chicago hotel. She also conducted an interview with Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart for his perspective.