Bulloch County is a county of about 78,000 residents, located in southeastern Georgia in the greater Savannah region. Its county seat is Statesboro. Prostitution has been a documented problem in the county, and has generated complaints from residents to law enforcement. Efforts to address the problem have included targeting demand. While the term “pandering” can mean “pimping,” in some Georgia communities, pandering refers to solicitation of sex for pay or buying sex.

Reverse stings and identity disclosure have been used to deter demand in the county. In June 2014, a dozen people were arrested after a two-day web-based sting operation targeting people soliciting prostitution. Statesboro-Bulloch Crime Suppression Team investigators conducted the operation with the cooperation of a local motel in response to public complaints, according to a press release from the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators used a classified Internet advertising website to arrange the transactions, and arrested eleven men who responded to the ads. A woman was also charged with prostitution and keeping a place of prostitution after officers learned of her soliciting sexual encounters at a separate hotel during the course of the investigation. All the sex buyers were charged with pandering, and one faced an additional charge of sexual battery after groping an undercover female officer. The men’s names, ages, and arrest photos were released to the press.