St. Augustine is a city of approximately 14,000 residents in northeastern Florida’s St. John’s County. Prostitution activity has been reported in the community for at least two decades. It has been linked to more serious crimes, including reports of sex sellers being “beaten and thrown out of vehicles” and targeted for homicide.

On at least two occasions, local law enforcement has initiated stings targeting sex buyers. In February 2004 and again in March 2008, officers with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office conducted street-level anti-prostitution details using female undercover officers as decoys. According to reports by the St. Augustine Record at the time of the operations, both investigations were launched in response to complaints from residents about street prostitution activity in specific neighborhoods. A total of 15 sex buyers were arrested as a result of the two stings; all had their names and other identifying information publicized in the press.

In November 2000, the St. Augustine Record noted that SJCSO deputies had established a “prostitution mapping zone” program, barring individuals arrested for prostitution offenses from re-entering the area in which they were picked up for solicitation. It is unclear if the SJCSO applied these exclusion orders to sex buyers as well. However, at the time of their creation, a representative with the SJCSO commented that the zone intended to “deny prostitutes access to areas which have experienced a high concentration of this type of activity,” suggesting that they were only applied to sex sellers.