A prostitution sting resulted in the arrests of 23 people over a two-day period last week in Bloomington.
It all took place March 15 and 16 when the Bloomington Police Department Special Investigations Unit partnered with several other agencies including police in Eden Prairie, Richfield, Maple Grove, and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office to conduct a detail focused on male customers seeking prostitution services from an adult sex worker.
Investigators created posted an online advertisement with photos of an undercover officer.
"211 people interacted with our ads in a span of two days," said Bloomington police chief Booker Hodges.
A 24th person is being investigated for their involvement in the sting operation.
During the press conference, Hodges referenced lyrics from convicted sex offender R. Kelly who was sentenced last year to 31 years in prison on charges including child pornography and enticing a minor.
"R. Kelly told everybody that he was the 'Pied Piper,'" Hodges said. "Either no one paid attention or no one believed him until they did."
Hodges went on to reference R. Kelly's song "Bump N' Grind."
"R. Kelly once wrote 'My mind is telling me no, but my body is telling me yes.' These guys who were arrested just like R. Kelly should've followed his own advice."
Hodges said some of the suspects included a person experiencing homelessness, a respiratory therapist, and a man from Durand, Wisconsin.
A few of the suspects reportedly had firearms on them at the time of their arrest.
"There is a Red Light District in Amsterdam. We don't have one these in Bloomington. We have the orange jumpsuit district in Bloomington. So if you come do that here, you go to jail. We got the best airport in the country, if you want this type of service, you get on a plane and go there. You don't do that here because we give you orange jumpsuits."
Hodges defended the sting operation and said it's what keeps Bloomington and the south metro from being a sex trafficking hotspot.
"The Twin Cities area is one of the top sex trafficking hotspots in the country," he said. "Bloomington has such a large amount of hotels, and I don't think we are a hotspot. If we did not get out here and enforce these types of operations, we could easily turn into that. Our city has the airport, the highways and all these hotels. If we didn't get out there and actively do that, this would be a hotspot."
