Concord is the capital city of New Hampshire, and also serves as the government seat of Merrimack County. Its population is approximately 44,000, and it is situated along the Interstate 93 corridor in central NH.  Prostitution and sex trafficking are known to occur in the city, and some of the activity is linked to regional and international sex trafficking.  For example, in December, 2018  it was announced that a Concord couple had been arrested and charged with operating a large scale international sex trafficking enterprise that exploited over 20 Chinese women under the control of the couple, according to federal prosecutors.  Federal officials in Maine announced the indictment of the Concord residents and charged them with running the sex ring spanning Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The pair were each charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in interstate transportation and travel for prostitution; two counts of sex trafficking by fraud and coercion; and five counts of interstate transportation for prostitution. One was also charged with possessing a victim’s passport as part of the sex trafficking scheme.   Investigators alleged that they recruited Chinese women to travel to Maine, then coerced them into engaging in prostitution by controlling their movements and isolating them at rented homes and hotels. The defendants deprived them of personal documents, food, clothing and room keys and other things to ensure they were unable to leave any location without the consent and assistance of the defendants or their co-conspirators. The U.S. Attorney’s office of the District of Maine also charge the defendants with employing unnamed people outside of Maine to advertise the women on Backpage.com and to communicate with prostitution customers.  In a separate case, a local woman was arrested in July, 2020 on prostitution and possession of a controlled drug charges, after an incident on Manchester Street in Concord.

To address such issues, law enforcement agencies and others have targeted demand as one of the strategies for addressing these problems.  For example, in December of 2020, the Concord Police Department responded to reports of inappropriate online activity, and past physical activity, allegedly conducted by a suspect. Concord Police detectives, with the assistance of the Manchester Police Department and the NH ICAC Task Force, conducted an extensive investigation into the allegations. Based on the investigation, it was alleged that the man engaged in sexually explicit online activity with a person under the age of 18, during which the suspect sought and received Child Sexual Abuse videos and/or images in exchange for money. He was also accused of engaging in sexual activity with a person under the age of 18 in exchange for money. It was further alleged that he twice solicited sexual activity from a person over the age of 18 in exchange for money. The investigation indicated that the man was a Concord High School teacher at  the time the alleged offenses of Solicitation to Commit Sexual Contact occurred.  The man was also charged with two counts of manufacturing child sexual abuse images, and possession of child sexual abuse images. The man refused bail and was held at the Merrimack County House of Correction, and was arraigned at Merrimack County Superior Court the following day. The district immediately placed the teacher on leave and requested police investigate the allegations. His name was later removed from school staff directories.

In February, 2021, a Concord High School teacher was arrested on “child pornography” (i.e., child sexual abuse materials, or CSAM) and prostitution charges after a multi-month investigation into online sexual activity and interactivity with people on social media and dating sites. According to police and SAU 8, the Concord school district, a tip was given to officials in December 2020 by a former Concord High School student accusing a relatively new teacher at the school of being involved in soliciting younger men online on Grindr, a self-described dating site and app for gay and bisexual men and the trans community.