Southborough is a town of approximately 10,000 residents in Worcester County, Massachusetts. It is located about 40 miles west of Boston and 40 miles east of Springfield in central Massachusetts. Some other cities in Worcester County that have worked to address demand include Auburn, Fitchburg, Holden, Leominster, Milford, Northborough, and Worcester.

Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been well-documented in the communities within the county, especially in the city of Worcester. There have been chronic and visible “strolling” areas in some of the county’s communities for several decades, and multiple documented cases of child sex trafficking. The area has also dealt with a serial killer targeting prostituted people in the early 2000s, and there have been cases of targeted rape, physical assault, and robbery of individuals engaged in prostitution. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates result in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is child sex trafficking.

In February, 2023, four men were arrested during a commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking sting. The men each were charged with sexual conduct for a fee, and their identities included in news reports. Southborough Police say they conducted the operation with other law enforcement agencies to crack down on demand for prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation. Southborough police teamed with the Northborough and Westborough police departments, as well as the Massachusetts State Police and the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, to conduct the sting. Planning had started the prior year. Police had set up a fake ad on a website advertising a woman offering “sexual services” at an unnamed hotel in Southborough. The hotel, as well as others in Northborough and Westborough, had been used for prostitution in the past. The suspects all responded to the prostitution advertisement and were arrested upon arrival to the hotel, and were then arraigned in Westborough District Court the next morning. About the operation, the Chief of the Southborough Police Department said:

“Those who claim that these types of law enforcement operations are a waste of taxpayer money are not seeing the victims behind the crime. Most often the women involved in prostitution rings are victims of human trafficking, suffer from a serious drug addiction or have suffered from many types of mental or physical abuse. Those who seek out and patronize this commercial sex industry should be held accountable for their actions and contributions to this cycle of abuse.”