Defiance is a city of approximately 17,000 residents, located in northwestern Ohio, about midway between Toledo and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities. In 2008, a Defiance County Township trustee was found guilty on a prostitution-related charge following a jury trial. The man had been arrested during a Fulton County sex sting in Wauseon. In 2018, the sex offender registry for Defiance listed a man who had been convicted of compelling prostitution (i.e., sex trafficking) and qualified as a habitual sex offender. The Northwest Ohio Rescue and Restore Coalition has a Defiance County Chapter to respond to local and regional issues associated with human trafficking. The Northwest Ohio Rescue and Restore Coalition has a Defiance County Chapter to respond to local and regional issues associated with human trafficking. In December 2018, the Defiance County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Toledo in conducting an undercover operation that lead to a woman being arrested and charged with solicitation of prostitution. A case file was forwarded to the Defiance County Prosecutor’s Office for presentation to a Defiance County grand jury for charges of promoting prostitution, a fourth-degree felony. The investigation continued with the possibility of other persons being charged.

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. In October 2018, seven people were arrested in a prostitution sting that occurred in an undisclosed location in Defiance. The Defiance Police Department, FBI’s Violent Crimes against Children Task Force, the Defiance County Sheriff’s Office, and the Defiance County Prosecutor’s Office conducted the operation to deter sex trafficking in the city. Defiance police officers and sheriff’s deputies charged six men with solicitation, and a seventh person (a woman) with felony level promoting prostitution. The identities of the arrested individuals were publicly disclosed by police. Those arrested came from Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa.