Waterville is a city of approximately 17,000 residents, located in Kennebec County, Maine, north of Augusta.  Prostitution activity has been well documented in the community for decades, and has generated complaints to police. The commercial sexual exploitation of minors has also been documented locally. In January, 2021, court documents were filed in pursuit of an early release from prison for a Kennebec County man serving time for “child pornography” (i.e., child sexual abuse materials, or CSAM) offenses state that the offender “…admitted that he has a long history of possessing child pornography, voyeurism, and soliciting prostitution.”

In their efforts to reduce prostitution activity, and the wide range of serious crimes that it generates, local law enforcement have conducted operations to identify and arrest sex buyers. For example, in September 2015, media outlets reported the completion of three reverse stings in Waterville and Augusta. The operations marked a collaborative effort between the Waterville and Augusta Police Departments and Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office. During the stings, officers placed decoy advertisements suggesting prostitution to websites known for commercial sex sales, and arranged to meet the individuals who responded to the listing at hotels in the two communities. Twenty-one male sex buyers were arrested as a result of the stings; all of the men’s identities were publicized in press. In a joint press release about the investigations, a representative with the WPD commented:

“We suspected that prostitution was taking place throughout central Maine and highly suspected we would get high number of responses to Internet ads from potential ‘johns’… A lot of people kind of view this as a victimless crime. We don’t.”

In January 2016, the Bangor Daily News reported that five of the men intercepted during the September 2015 reversal had pleaded guilty to engaging a prostitute, and had been sentenced to pay $800 in fines and fees. In addition, Daily News reporters indicated that two more sex buyers had previously pleaded guilty in November 2015; those men were similarly sentenced to $800 in fines and fees but were also forced to serve 48 hours in jail.