KANSAS CITY —The Clay County, Missouri Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, led a counter-human trafficking operation Jan. 23 and 24 that resulted in the arrest of men who sought to have sex with a child, as well as services provided to more than a dozen potential trafficking victims.
Last week, prosecutors charged another Kansas man for trying to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex after deputies arrested him in a sting operation. Leavenworth, Kan., resident Samuel J. Weisse, 34, has been charged with one count of felony attempted child enticement. Weisse was messaging with under-cover detectives during the original counter-human trafficking operation. He continued communication until Feb. 5, when he made arrangements to meet whom he believed to be the 13-year-old. Instead, deputies took him into custody at the meet-up location. He is being held on a $25,000 bond.
At the same time as the predator operation, investigators conducted a victim advocacy operation at a Clay County hotel. They had posted an online ad purportedly soliciting sex, knowing that many sex workers are victims of human trafficking. Twenty-seven sex workers responded to the hotel, and 13 agreed to accept services to leave a life of sex trafficking and/or sex work. Advocates from the organizations Value Unconditional and Relentless Pursuit Outreach & Recovery met with them to begin giving them resources for their journeys. The operation was a joint effort by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations – Kansas City, and the Ray County Counter Human Trafficking Task Force.
The Ray County Task Force is a team of subject matter experts in the counter-trafficking space who contribute their time and knowledge at no cost to host law enforcement agencies. They are credentialed law enforcement officers and analysts from several sheriff’s offices and have deep connections to a network of aftercare and survivor support service organizations. During this operation, Task Force volunteers hailed from the Butler, Bourbon and Greenwood County sheriff’s offices in Kansas, the Washoe County, Nev., Sheriff’s Office and the Goodyear, Ariz., Police Department.