Byron Center is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Kent County, Michigan, near Grand Rapids. Its population is about 7,000, and it is located within Byron Township. Prostitution and sex trafficking are well documented problems in Kent County and the Grand Rapids area. Among the responses to these problems are those attempting to reduce consumer-level demand for prostitution, which drives all sex trafficking and prostitution markets. Loss of employment and identity disclosure are consequences of buying sex that have occurred in Byron Center. In March 2009, a Byron Center Public Schools teacher was caught in a sex act with a prostituted person and was arrested. He was cited and in June 2009 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of gross indecency and lewd and lascivious conduct. Police alleged that they saw a prostituted person performing an indecent act with a man inside a vehicle. The gross indecency charge was dismissed as part of a plea agreement. The man was initially placed on administrative leave from Byron Center Public Schools, where he taught for 15 years. The teacher later agreed to resign. His identity was included in news reports.