Dennis Port is a census-designated place in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, on central Cape Cod. Its population is roughly 3,400. The Swan Pond River and Upper County Road demarcate Dennis Port’s western border with West Dennis.  Multiple cases of prostitution and sex trafficking have been has been documented in the community.  For example, in June, 2018, two men were indicted in connection with trafficking multiple victims for sex, including minors, on Cape Cod and in Boston. The charges against the two men included Trafficking of Persons for Sexual Servitude, Sex for a Fee, Conspiracy to Traffic Persons for Sexual Servitude, Assault and Battery, Posing a Child in a State of Nudity, Enticement of a Child, and Dissemination of Matter Harmful to a Minor. The maximum penalty for trafficking a child under the age of 18 for sex is life in state prison. The charges stem from events in Barnstable and Suffolk counties where authorities allege young women, including minors, were trafficked for sex one of the men’s Dennis home as well as at hotels in the Boston area and on Cape Cod. Massachusetts State Police assigned to the AG’s Office, along with members of the Dennis Police Department, arrested one of the suspects in Dennis. The AG’s Human Trafficking Division joined an investigation in January 2018 after the matter was referred by the Dennis and Randolph Police Departments. The investigation revealed that between Oct. 2017 and Jan. 2018, the Dennis resident arranged for commercial sexual activity with victims at his residence in Dennis and at hotels on Cape Cod and in the Boston area. Authorities allege that the man would also supply these victims with narcotics, texted photos of his genitalia, and physically struck one of the victims.

Among the efforts to combat the range of crimes associated with the commercial sex trade are the use of tactics intended to reduce or respond to consumer level demand.  For example, in August, 2016, a 90-year-old Dennis Port man was arrested for soliciting a prostituted woman after reporting that she stole from him. The man paid the woman $100 to perform a sex act, according to Orleans District Court documents. He told police she used the bathroom in his house and he later noticed his necklace was missing. He reported the alleged theft to police, which was later recovered for sale at a local pawn shop. The man was charged with “soliciting a prostitute” while the woman was charged with larceny and prostitution. Their identities were included in news reports.