Kenton County is located in the northern part of Kentucky and has a population of approximately 167,000. Its county seats are the cities of  Covington and Independence. Prostitution activity has been well-documented within the county, and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking.

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. Demand reduction tactics used in the town include the arrest of sex buyers and the public disclosure of their identities. For example, in February, 2013, a warrant was issued for the arrest of a man who was charged for soliciting prostitution and trafficking in a controlled substance within the county. The Kenton County Attorney’s Office, along with the Kentucky State Police, released an announcement that they had issued the charges, both misdemeanors. The investigation stemmed from information detectives received from an Ohio jail inmate in June of 2011, who said the man had provided her drugs and money in return for sex while he was commissioner. The woman said the man would call her cell phone, set up a pick-up location, and they would go to a motel to engaged in paid sex.

In May, 2016, a man who had been arrested for human trafficking and promoting prostitution was back on the street after his mother posted a $5,000 cash bond. He had been arrested after a woman told police the suspect coerced her and two other women into prostitution in exchange for heroin and meth. The investigation began with an anonymous tip, and Independence police came to the suspect’s house to serve a warrant. A woman fled the house and went to the police, and alleged that she and others had been at the residence and were given drugs for sex. The woman claimed two women would inject them with heroin and when they started to withdraw, they’d withhold more drugs until they had sex with them or others. Independence police got a search warrant and went back to the home. One man was charged with drug possession and tampering with evidence; the other with promoting prostitution, drug possession, tampering with evidence and human trafficking.