Twenty-one men were arrested Thursday after responding to online prostitution advertisements in Northwest Cook County.
Sheriff’s police set up meetings at a hotel with would-be buyers and an officer posing as a person selling sex online, the Cook County sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Once the man agreed to exchange money for sex, an officer waiting outside entered the hotel room and took the man into custody, the sheriff’s office said.
All of the men were issued $1,000 citations for violation of the county’s public morals nuisance ordinance, and 17 vehicles were towed, the sheriff’s office said. The owner is required to pay $500 to reclaim the vehicles.
“Sex trafficking leaves a trail of trauma in its wake,” Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart said in a statement. “Too many victims, most of whom are women, experience violence and abuse, and we are committed to pursuing those who perpetuate this trauma by seeking to purchase sex.”
