East Palatka is a census-designated place of fewer than 2,000 residents in northeastern Florida’s Putnam County. Law enforcement and local residents have noted problems with street prostitution in the city for decades; individuals attempting to purchase sex in the city have also reported being robbed. Sex trafficking has also been well documented locally.

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, in April 2014, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office conducted a two-week anti-prostitution and anti-drug investigation that led to the arrest of 12 male sex buyers. The men were arrested after approaching an undercover female deputy along the Highway 17 South Corridor and making an offer of cash for sexual services. All arrestees’ names, ages, and mugshots were released to the public.

In April 2022, a street-level reverse sting occurred in which undercover officers walked up and down sidewalks at various locations in Palatka and East Palatka. The undercover officers would notify deputies if there were any solicitors and then “direct the solicitors to a pre-determined location where a takedown team would then be utilized to take the suspect into custody,” according to the arrest report. The identities of the arrested sex buyers were included in the press release and news reports.