“FBI agents in Asia slept with prostitutes at a training on fighting human trafficking.” That sounds like a satirical news outlet headline, not the finding of the Office of Inspector General. Yet after years of bureaucratic foot-dragging and attempts to slow-walk the New York Times lawsuit seeking information, in March of 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) finally shared the truth. Here is the story of what happened and how it might apply to your company or agency.‍

The FBI Knew Better

From 2014 to 2018, FBI agents based in Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines, and agents visiting those locations for work, regularly purchased commercial sex.

• Secret Service Scandal
  The FBI agents did this in the wake of a 2015 Secret Service scandal, where Secret Service agents purchased sex from local women in Colombia. This led to Attorney General Holder issuing a memo to the entire DOJ on April 10, 2015, that FBI and DOJ personnel could not purchase commercial sex while on taxpayer-funded travel, even if the country failed to criminalize prostitution. The idea was simple: U.S. taxpayers should not underwrite illicit commercial sex by paying for the plane tickets, hotel rooms, phones, computers, and daily stipends.
• FBI and Security Clearance Requirements
  The FBI agents also knew that a long string of FBI regulations forbade this conduct, and their security clearances required notification of any contact with foreign nationals or activity that could become blackmail material.
• White House Directive
  Even the White House issued a clear directive in 2002 that remains in force. It says that prostitution is inherently harmful, and it is a driver of sex trafficking. The agents would have known of this memo.

Buying Sex at a Combating Human Trafficking Training

Worse yet, some of the offending FBI agents were attending training conferences about combating human trafficking when they purchased sex from local women. During the day, they heard information about how traffickers recruit, groom, and coerce vulnerable people and then sell access to their bodies to strangers for the traffickers’ illegal profit. In the evenings, they became strangers at karaoke bars or ordered prostitutes to their hotel rooms. In some instances, the agents did this with the assistance of local police authorities, and sometimes multiple agents shared a single room with multiple women.

Instead of fighting human trafficking, they were fueling the illicit trade. Not only did they betray their oaths and training, but they also betrayed the people they were sent to help. Even if a trafficker did not control some of those selling commercial sex, others who were sex trafficking victims certainly observed or heard about the transactions. Those victims realized that those sent to help them find freedom intended harm.

Tardy and Weak Accountability

Although the FBI “relieved” at least five offending FBI agents “of service” as a result of the investigation, there is no indication of how the purchased women are doing now. These incidents are a terrible stain on the FBI and DOJ, and they do not represent the conduct of the vast majority of agents and prosecutors who faithfully work for justice, freedom, and peace. Yet, this type of conduct and the tortoise-paced accountability processes feed the traffickers’ coercive scheme. Traffickers often bully their victims with statements about the police being “on their side” and how they will never be held accountable. This situation affirms the traffickers—the FBI agents were the sex buyers, and the traffickers remain at large.

What Can You Do?

The conclusion is not to lose faith in the FBI. The actions of the agents in this story do not reflect the motivations and good actions of the thousands of FBI employees committed daily to public service. Law enforcement will remain essential in the battle to stop traffickers and care for survivors. Instead, consider that many organizations have adopted policies prohibiting the purchase of commercial sex using company devices or while traveling on business. The idea is simple. A company’s funders and customers have no interest in subsidizing the commercial sex trade, whether or not a country criminalizes the conduct. In addition to the typical sexual harassment, EEO, and procurement policies that prohibit products made by forced labor, ask your organization if it has a policy prohibiting commercial sex.

If there is a violation, organizations should race to transparency with a victim-centered mindset. That means the investigative goal is more interested in the victims’ well-being than the organization’s reputation. As the entity deals with the issue, care for the survivor should be a central consideration. Also, consider asking the brands you enjoy if they have a policy prohibiting commercial sex.

Earning Trust and Maintaining Credibility

For freedom to flourish, governments, nonprofits, and faith communities must earn victims’ trust. If our rhetoric rails against human trafficking, while our dollars drive continued exploitation, we have no credibility. A new policy may not change everything, but it could be a step in the right direction. Kudos to the FBI truth-tellers who told the honest facts. Kudos to the media that fought for transparency. And kudos to those who will not let this scandal derail the good work of identifying victims, holding traffickers accountable, and fighting this crime.

By John Richmond
‍Atlas Free’s Chief Impact Officer, Former U.S. Ambassador to Combat Trafficking