During the course of an investigation into possible sex trafficking in Arizona massage parlors, two Flagstaff Police Department officers repeatedly allowed or solicited sexual contact from women who may have been trafficking victims, ABC 15 reported. The months-long investigation, called "Operation High Country Hydra" by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who were jointly involved in the operation, sought information about suspected human trafficking, sex trafficking and prostitution in massage businesses.
It was while searching for potential victims of sex trafficking that the officers engaged in sexual contact with multiple women, ABC15 reported. In a video deposition about the case, officer Dustin Eberhardt recounted eight instances where he entered massage parlors with recording devices, paid in cash for massage services, then removed his boxers and initiated sexual contact with the women working there.
And then shortly after that, we did the rest of the stuff and then she had me roll over," Eberhardt said in a video deposition ABC15 reported. In his filings about the interactions, ABC15 reported, Eberhardt on several occasions mentioned how when he "placed [his] hand on the back of the female's calfβ¦[it] appeared to let them know I was okay to solicit sexual favors.
Eberhardt added that the initial encounters were confusing and he negotiated whether to remove his boxers with the massage employees. Once they were removed, he said the employees fondled his exposed genitals and he began discussing payment for the sex act.
And like I said, I've never done one of these, so I was fairly nervous and I didn't know where to stop it. So I was trying to stop it quickly. A second police officer, identified as Officer Hutchinson by ABC15 , returned to five of the same massage parlors Eberhardt did and did the same thing. In emails exchanged with ABC15, Flagstaff Police Chief Dan Musselman defended his employees' actions, saying they did not violate the law because they did not touch the women.
