Clay County prosecutor hopes charges for enticing minors create ‘chilling effect’

Seven men were recently charged with attempting to entice 15-year-old girls for sex in a sting operation that coincided with the FIFA World Cup.

However, the Clay County prosecuting attorney warned this behavior goes far beyond large events and contributes to more exploitation, including human trafficking.

“It’s important for folks to realize sometimes when they think about human trafficking, they think about kidnappings, they think about organized crime,” Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said. “But the reality is that human trafficking often begins with the exploitation, grooming and targeting of vulnerable children online.”

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit led an operation in June and July, during which detectives posed as 15-year-old girls online and conversed with men who asked them for sex, authorities said. When these men arrived at a designated meeting point, they were arrested.

Following the operation, seven men each face a charge of attempted enticement of a child. Two of them face additional charges, and more charges could be filed against a third man, according to the county sheriff’s office.

The defendants were talking to detectives online, but the charge is essentially the same as if they were talking to a real child. The cases have been filed and will now make their way through the criminal justice process.

Thompson said assistant prosecutors helped law enforcement with the operation and that he believes the felony charges will create a “chilling effect” to discourage others from similar engagement with minors.

For him, discouraging such behavior is a preventative measure that can help reduce human trafficking.

“Individuals who seek to entice children for sexual purposes are the fuel that fires the demand that causes the cycle of exploitation that you see with human trafficking,” Thompson said.

By discouraging attempts to exploit children, there will be less demand for it, he said. He explained this means fewer children will be targeted for a cycle that is “really, really hard” to escape.

Thompson described human trafficking and online attempts to entice minors as a “community problem” that exists in “all counties,” regardless of population size. He said solutions require collaboration among law enforcement, schools and parents to protect children at risk of exploitation.

Six of the seven men charged following the sheriff’s office operation live in Kansas or Missouri.

Children are often targeted when they are by themselves, Thompson said, adding that “it’s really important that we do everything we can to make sure they’re not alone and they do have help.”

The prosecutor’s office plans to work with local, state and federal partners to continue similar efforts in the future, he said.

“Because of the internet connecting everyone, this isn’t limited to certain parts of a community. It’s everywhere,” he said. “To put a number on that is really difficult. But the reality is it exists, so we’re doing what we can to stop it.”