photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A Lawrence Police Department patrol vehicle is pictured June 28, 2022.

Six men were arrested earlier this week in Lawrence on suspicion of buying sexual relations.

The Douglas County Jail booking log indicates that all six were arrested Thursday at Lawrence Police Department headquarters.

Four of the men are from Lawrence, one is from Carbondale and one is from Ottawa. They range in age from 24 to 62.

When asked about the arrests, Lawrence Police Department spokeswoman Laura McCabe said she was unable to provide much detail, but said the arrests were the result of LPD’s Investigations Unit working “very hard to combat human trafficking.”

“As you can imagine, it’s a complex issue involving multiple areas of focus and long term investigations,” she told the Journal-World via email. “This particular group of arrests was the result of some of their work to reduce the demand for sex workers, many of whom can be trafficking victims. This type of work is ongoing so I am unable to provide more detail than that but we’re proud of the progress and made six arrests.”