(Radio Iowa) – Sioux City police say seven men were charged in a recent prostitution sting. Sergeant Tom Gill says the Special Police Investigations Unit conducted the sting at a local hotel on two recent nights. Gill says prostitution has changed through the years and it is usually initiated online. “For most of the prostitution we’re seeing now along with the human trafficking and labor trafficking, exploitation of minors, that’s all done through social media and online,” he says. He says it is rare to see the crime start out in public. “I think you’ll still see sometimes some of the what they call the streetwalkers, prostitutes that are out on the street, but most of them are doing it more through social media and online, Gill says.

Gill says those who are charged are processed through the system. “The person is arrested or cited, They then have to appear in court where they’re looking at fine and short jail time,” Gill says.

The seven who were arrested ranged from a 17-year-old from South Sioux City, to a 59-year-old from Maquoketa. Two of the men were from Sioux City, one from Dakota Dunes, one from Orange City, and one from Dakota City, Nebraska.