Dunwoody is a city of approximately 53,000 residents located in the metropolitan Atlanta region.  Numerous cases of sex trafficking of children and prostitution have been documented in the city, generating complaints from citizens and local businesses and prompting a wide range of other crimes. For example, in 2016, a prostitution investigation found a missing 16-year-old girl working as a prostitute and recovered a 26-year-old woman who had been in coerced sexual servitude. Three people were arrested and charged with pimping; nine more were charged with prostitution. In 2017, Dunwoody police dismantled a prostitution ring masquerading as high-end modeling outfits, in which clients paid $300 or more an hour. Police have charged the owners and operators of Atlanta Fantasies and Ashley’s of Atlanta with human trafficking for sexual servitude, keeping a place of prostitution, and racketeering. At least 26 women were identified as victims of the organization. In December 2020, police arrested 19 people as part of a prostitution sting. Dunwoody investigators partnered with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force as part of the undercover operation. Three people were arrested for pimping, two for soliciting without a permit, and 14 were charged with prostitution. In May 2022, a prostitution sting in Dunwoody resulted in the arrest of 10 individuals, eight of which were charged with prostitution, four were found in possession of felony drugs, one was charged with soliciting without a permit, and one man was charged with pimping.

Among the tactics used to address these problems are those that focus on consumer-level demand. For example, in 2017, a reverse sting was used in the large-scale and comprehensive investigation of a prostitution business run out of apartments in Dunwoody and Atlanta. The operation resulted in 56 people arrested, 24 of which were men accused of hiring escorts for the purpose of sexual activity. One of the two escort services operated out of an apartment complex across the street from Dunwoody Police Department headquarters.

A DeKalb County Grand Jury indicted a local couple and three others on charges of racketeering and conspiracy in connection with a commercial sex enterprise operating out of Dunwoody and other metro areas. Fifty-seven other men and women are charged with either prostitution or pandering in the 58-count indictment. The indictment alleges that between February 2015 and August 2016, the defendants, using false information, leased units at four Dunwoody apartment complexes for the purpose of pairing “models” and clients to engage in paid sexual activities. The co-defendants are accused of finding victims to exploit, advertising, securing locations, and managing appointments and payment systems in furtherance of their criminal enterprise. The defendants were arrested following a months-long investigation and subsequent sting operation by the Dunwoody Police Department in December 2016. The District Attorney’s Sexual Exploitation and Crimes Against Children Unit (SECAC)  prosecuted the case.

In February 2019, thirty people were arrested as part of an undercover commercial sex trafficking sting in Dunwoody. Police arrested 30 individuals on numerous charges, including pimping, prostitution, pandering, enticing a child for indecent purposing, and human trafficking. Their photos and identities were included in press releases.