Moreno Valley is a city of approximately 212,000 residents, located near Redlands and Rubidoux in Riverside County, California. Not formally incorporated until 1984, the city quickly became one of the largest population centers in the area. It is the second largest city in Riverside County, second only to neighboring Riverside.  Prostitution and sex trafficking in the city are well documented, as are assaults against prostituted women and girls. In recent years, city and county law enforcement have reported an increase in community complaints about commercial sex in Moreno Valley, and have conducted several high-profile investigations into businesses suspected to be fronts for prostitution. In their efforts, female officers from the Moreno Valley Police Department’s Problem Oriented Policing Team have at times gone undercover as prostituted women looking for “work” at the alleged brothels. If the female officer could confirm that illegal sex was taking place on the premises, a backup team swept the building and arrested the business owners and prostituted women present. Sex trafficking has also emerged a growing problem in the Moreno Valley. In March 2013, a former school board member was sentenced to 15 years in prison for pimping young women and girls in the city. That same month, in a separate incident, an 18-year-old woman was charged with the trafficking and prostitution of a 14-year-old girl after law enforcement saw photos of the minor on Backpage.com. The victim was recovered at a local motel. In August 2013, a young female was recovered after being abducted by five men in nearby Compton and brought to a Moreno Valley motel where she was sexually assaulted and told by her abductors that they planned to force her to conduct prostitution for money. The 18-year-old was able to escape and alert authorities when the men “became distracted before the alleged prostitution could take place.”

After two such “jane sweeps,” the MVPD opted to replace the prostituted women with female police decoys to arrest local sex buyers. In September 2009, police used existing businesses’ ads, telephones and computers  to arrange appointments with the men who contacted them. Fifteen sex buyers were apprehended as a result. In September 2012, six sex buyers were similarly arrested after attempting to solicit an undercover female officer at a brothel broken up by police earlier in the day. The men’s names were not released to the public.  In April 2013, a joint “jane” and “john” sting resulted in the arrest of eight male sex buyers, whose names, ages, and hometowns were released to news outlets.  In October 2013, 19 men were arrested at a Moreno Valley motel pursuant to an investigation of a prostitution ring.  In December 2013, 21 men were arrested for solicitation during a reverse sting.  Of these men, three were charged with felony solicitation and drug offenses, and another 21 charged with misdemeanor prostitution.  The Moreno Valley Police Department reported they conducted the operation in response to community complaints.  In March 2014, a reverse sting resulted in the arrest of 27 sex buyers, plus additional arrests for drug and weapons offenses, and parole violations.  In June 2014, a reversal resulted in the arrest of 25 men, two of whom were wanted on felony warrants for other crimes.

In November, 2022, sixteen people were arrested on suspicion of soliciting sex acts following a prostitution demand reduction operation in Moreno Valley. Deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Moreno Valley station coordinated with the Homeless Outreach Team, Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Team and gang teams to conduct the operation, which resulted in the arrest of 14 male sex buyers and two sexually exploited women. According to the sheriff’s department, the women were offered resources in helping them exit prostitution. In January, 2023, 12 males and three females were arrested for soliciting sex acts during a sting operation. The investigation revealed the females were prostituted, and were offered resources to assist them in exiting prostitution. The male suspects received misdemeanor citations for soliciting prostitution. In April, 2023, another 12 male sex buyers were arrested in a reverse sting.