Chardon Township is one of the sixteen townships of Geauga County, Ohio. With a population of just under 5,000 residents, it is located in northeastern Ohio approximately 30 miles from Cleveland. Prostitution, child sex trafficking, and child sexual exploitation have been documented within the county. For example, a massage parlor in Chester Township was investigated for prostitution and shut down in 2008 after complaints from residents about the sex buyers for several months. There have also been incidents involving child sexual abuse materials (i.e., child pornography) being created and exchanged with minors in the county, as well as sextortion of minors.

At least one opportunistic arrest of a sex buyer has occurred in Chardon Township. In July 2017, a man staying in Chardon Township was arrested on charges of compelling prostitution and unlawful restraint after calling the police to report that a stripper he had hired from an escort service refused to have sex with him. The Geauga County Sheriff’s Office report about the incident stated that the man paid $195 for an escort service to come to the residence where he was staying with four other men. The woman was taken into a bedroom after she arrived and two men wanted her to have sex, but she refused. The men got upset and would not let her leave, demanding half their money back. The woman argued with them for about five minutes and then began screaming loudly enough for the man she came with to hear from the car. Sheriff’s office deputies responded to the sex buyer’s call along with City of Chardon Police and heard the man state “that he did not pay for a fat stripper to come over and that he wanted his money back.” The man told a deputy that he believed he was paying to have sex with the woman when he hired her and he thought paying women to have sex was legal in Ohio. The other man involved in the incident was charged with misdemeanor unlawful restraint, but later pleaded guilty to criminal mischief. The names, ages, and hometowns of the two men were released to the public.