Brookville is a borough of 4,000 residents, located in western Pennsylvania’s Jefferson County along Interstate 80. Prostitution has been reported at truck stops along I-80 and secondary roads in the town. Law enforcement agencies have conducted CB radio-based reverse stings in response to numerous complaints about prostitution in the area. Some of the complaints are from truckers who dislike being propositioned while they sleep in their rigs or use CB radios. At a highway truck stop, state troopers have used an undercover female trooper posing as a prostituted woman, who was met by truckers through appointments made on CB radio. In one 2002 operation, six truckers were arrested on solicitation of prostitution charges. The names, ages, and hometowns of those arrested were reported in the news with details of the operations to deter future sex buyers from seeking prostituted women. The men arrested in 2002 could have faced fines of up to$500, but instead were fined $100 plus $93 in court costs.

In February 2019, three men were arrested and later charged with soliciting prostitution at a motel in State College, after a joint investigation by State College police and the state attorney general’s office. The two agencies received a tip in January 2019 from Brookville police about a possible prostitution or human trafficking operation based at the motel. Officers later contacted two motel managers and were put in a room to establish surveillance. Three men entered and then exited the room under surveillance, and all three were stopped by officers as they attempted to leave the hotel. Each admitted to paying at least $140 for sex with one of the two women, and each was charged with one misdemeanor count of criminal solicitation and one misdemeanor count of patronizing prostitutes. The men’s identities were publicly announced by police.

In May 2019, one of the men pleaded not guilty to criminal solicitation and patronizing prostitutes, according to the Centre County Assistant District Attorney. The man was charged in March after confessing to police he paid more than $100 for sex with one woman, court documents indicated. He admitted to law enforcement officials from both the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General and State College Police Department that he had responded to an online advertisement and made arrangements to meet two girls on Jan. 31 at a motel on South Atherton Street. He told police he paid one of the women $140 to engage in sex with him, that he was quoted $160 for one hour and $300 for both girls and that he met girls like this “infrequently.” Documents indicate police and the attorney general’s office were conducting a joint investigation into a human trafficking/prostitution ring after receiving a tip from the Brookville Police Department during the department’s own prostitution investigation. Managers of the motel confirmed that the girls reserved a room on Dec. 29 and were scheduled to check out on Feb. 4. The defendant, as well as two men from State College, were observed entering and exiting the room the girls had rented during the agencies’ surveillance on Jan. 31. According to court documents, the two men from State College were charged in connection to the investigation.