You may have heard about innocent people being swept up in the widely spread nets of sex sting operations held by law enforcement officers and then charged with a crime. But are such sweeping sex sting operations legitimate?
At least one instance of them, apparently, was not.
Harris County has reached a $1.53 million settlement in a federal lawsuit over sting operations targeting bachelor parties—operations that appeared to have been held not so much to catch criminals but, rather, to provide male deputies with a means to enjoy entertainment at such parties.
According to KPRC News, or click2houston.com, the county has agreed to the settlement with 3 women who brought the case to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas in May of 2021.
Filed on behalf of a human trafficking advocate and the 3 former or current female deputies who’d worked in the department’s human trafficking unit, the lawsuit named Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen and other high-ranking constable officials, including Assistant Chief Deputy Chris Gore and Lieutenant Shane Rigdon.
Sex stings targeted bachelor parties
Gore reportedly decided to run bachelor party stings with the approval of Constable Rosen, who personally attended at least one of the parties, according to court documents.
KPRC reported that the sting operations involved setting up undercover operations in hotel rooms where both male and female deputies would pretend to be attending a bachelor party.
The female deputies were supposed to behave like prostitutes in order to make actual prostitutes in attendance feel comfortable and agree to have sex with male partygoers for money, an act that would then lead to arrests. The female deputies claimed that this process led to their being molested by intoxicated male commanding officers at the undercover bachelor-party prostitution stings.
One female deputy said her Precinct 1 commander repeatedly touched her and fondled her during an undercover operation, and she was instructed to allow him to do this.
The women’s lawsuit claimed that they attempted to report the alleged abuse but were ridiculed, retaliated against and reassigned to less prestigious duties. The lawsuit also alleged that the department knew about sexual misconduct by some of its undercover officers but did nothing to stop it. In fact, the sting operations were approved by the county.
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According to the women’s initial complaint, Gore, based on his personal preferences, chose Latina deputies who lacked undercover training but were young and attractive for the sting operations.
One such deputy says she was subjected to sexual harassment and assault by Gore.
Court documents indicate that he made her purchase revealing clothes, which he approved by saying whether they were “slutty enough,” and then compelled her to accompany him to a sex shop to buy sex toys with county money.
During the stings, female deputies who wore revealing clothes at Gore’s behest had to endure his physical advances, they said in the complaint. The women also said they were pressured to drink alcohol during the stings, thus helping to create a party atmosphere while undercutting law enforcement professionalism.
When one female officer asked to leave the team, she reportedly was subjected to harassment. Her replacement, who also lacked proper training for a sting operation, then suffered similar mistreatment after being told to perform sexually suggestive acts at such stings.
Another female deputy was ordered to participate in an undercover operation at a massage parlor where she allegedly was sexually assaulted in order to provide evidence for an arrest.
A whistleblower and human trafficking advocate at the constable’s office spoke up on the women’s behalf, but she was fired shortly after that, according to the lawsuit.
Human trafficking advocates have told KPRC that the sting operations were a cover for misconduct and abuse by male deputies and especially Chief Gore, who allegedly exploited his position for personal pleasure and harassed female deputies under his command.
Constable Rosen and the deputies who were involved were dismissed from the case before the $1.53 million settlement was made, KPRC reported.
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How can you protect yourself from the rise in Houston sex stings?
If you’re concerned about sex sting operations run amok and the idea that you could be unfairly targeted by one, you should know how to protect yourself from Houston sex stings and the criminal charges that could follow.
For those charged with a crime after a sex sting, one defense strategy that can be employed by a skilled sex crime defense lawyer is to assert “entrapment” by law officers.
Entrapment is an illegal method of provoking a law-abiding citizen to commit a crime that they otherwise would not have committed. By law, officers cannot lure unsuspecting persons into a legal minefield by using deceptive persuasion that’s meant to entice and then entrap them, leading to an arrest.
Another possible defense strategy in police sex sting operations is to challenge the legality and conduct of the sting operation itself. This involves scrutinizing the procedures that were used by law enforcement officials to determine if those procedures complied or failed to comply with strict legal standards.
Such standards would not have been met if investigations by a defense lawyer found that:
- Law officers violated defendants’ privacy rights.
- All evidence was not collected and handled according to proper legal protocols.
Fight the rise in sex stings with a skilled defense lawyer
Sex stings are on the rise, especially when it comes to prostitution sex stings and internet sex stings involving undercover officers who pose online as underage girls. Operations like Operation Bad Traffic have intensified these efforts, utilizing sophisticated online tactics to identify and apprehend individuals involved in sexual offenses.
Law enforcement entities are encouraged to make sweeping arrests in such sex stings in order to receive more federal funding. But you can fight such stings with an experienced sex sting defense lawyer. Otherwise, your future and your freedom could be in jeopardy due to high fines and a possible years-long prison sentence.
Your Houston sex crime defense attorney can examine the details and circumstances unique to your particular case and then make a determination of how best to defend you against an allegation or charge. It may even be possible to get a charge dismissed or reduced before a trial.
