Bloomington police say a federal contractor who conducted background checks tied to security-clearance investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies was arrested in a prostitution sting that netted 30 suspects.
At a Tuesday Bloomington Police press conference, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said authorities had identified the suspect as Brashad Johnson, 36, of Maple Grove, who worked as a Department of Defense contractor. Hodges called it the “most disturbing arrest” in the operation because, he said, Johnson served as a “backgrounder” for ICE, Homeland Security and other federal agencies, meaning he helped compile background reports used when people seek security clearances.
Police say Johnson was one of 30 men arrested last week in an undercover operation by the Bloomington Police Department targeting individuals seeking to pay for sex. The operation was a record number of arrests by the Bloomington Police Department in a single operation.
The operation, known as “Operation Lookin’ for Love in All the Wrong Places,” involved undercover officers posing as sex workers and communicating with individuals seeking to purchase sex through the Internet. “Our officers communicated with 330 individuals on the Internet during this operation. We arrested 30 individuals.”
Police say 28 of the men arrested are to be charged with gross misdemeanor charges. The remaining two men are to be charged with felony charges because they are repeat offenders.
Police say one person who communicated with the undercover officers is now being investigated on charges of sex trafficking. The identity of the suspect was not publicly disclosed by the police in the operation described by KSTP.
The arrest of Johnson comes less than three months after an ICE agent was arrested in Bloomington on charges of soliciting sex from a minor, according to Police Chief Booker Hodges.
KSTP reported that 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS contacted the Department of Defense to seek comment on the arrest of Johnson but has not received a response.
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