Floyd County is located in northwestern Georgia and has a population of roughly 99,000. The county seat is Rome, a city of approximately 38,000 residents. Prostitution and child sex trafficking have been reported in Rome and throughout the region for several decades. In the early 1970s, for example, Rome was the operating base for at least two distinct prostitution networks, both of which recruited and compelled minors into prostitution in the city and surrounding areas. The community has also reported cases of prostitution-related violence.

In an effort to curtail prostitution and its effects, the Rome Police Department and Floyd County Police Department have occasionally targeted sex buyers for arrest. In September 1997, RPD officers apprehended six sex buyers during a sting operation along Blanche Avenue after the department received complaints from residents. All of the men’s names were released to the public. In August 2014, the Floyd County Police Department launched an anti-prostitution investigation in coordination with the Rome Parole Office. According to media reports, “parole officers called [the FCPD] when they found information related to prostitution” during a “routine check.” Floyd County Police then set up a sting at a local motel, wherein they “made calls” to both suspected prostituted people and sex buyers. “Officers [apparently] called some men, using numbers they’d obtained through the parole check.” All of the individuals’ names were released to the public.

In May 2019, ten people were arrested in Floyd County as part of a multi-state child exploitation sting. They were identified in news releases, along with specific charges and mug shots in the Rome News-Tribune and other outlets. “Operation Southern Impact III” netted 82 arrests across eight southeastern states, according to a release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The operation focused on those possessing and distributing child pornography and those who sexually exploit children in other ways using technology and the internet. Throughout Georgia, there were 31 arrests, including seven arrested for traveling to meet a minor to have sex.