Boiling Spring Lakes is a city in Brunswick County, NC, and has a population of approximately 6,100 residents. Instances of prostitution and sex trafficking have been documented in the city and in surrounding areas. Among the more serious issues associated with the commercial sex market in the city is child sex trafficking.

Consumer level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking, and has therefore been targeted by local law enforcement agencies as a strategy for prevention and response. For example, a web-based operation conducted by the Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department that began in November 2012 led to the arrest of two Boiling Spring Lakes men in March of 2013. Each were charged with two counts of promoting prostitution of a minor and two counts of supervising, supporting or protecting minors for prostitution. The offenders had placed sexual advertisements on social media sites, and had coerced at least two 17-year-old females into prostitution. The victims told investigators they had been threatened with violence if they tried to escape. In one instance, the offenders had bailed one of the minors out of jail, and then forced her into prostitution under the context of paying back her bail money. These two men were also indicted in connection with an attempted robbery of a former Brunswick County police officer who was later charged with participating in the prostitution of a minor after he allegedly contacted a 17-year-old female through an advertisement on Craigslist. He reportedly met with the teenage girl in Boiling Springs Lakes and exchanged $60 for sex acts. The former lieutenant in the Northwest Police Department turned himself into the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office. The offender was sentenced to 45 days in prison, which was suspended, and 12 months of probation. The former lieutenant resigned the day after his arrest. A volunteer firefighter was also later charged for his participation in prostitution of a minor, after responding to an advertisement of sex acts online. The identities of the arrested offenders were included in reports from local news sources.