Fairmont is a city of about 18,000 residents located in Marion County, in the northern part of West Virginia.  Sex Trafficking and prostitution have been well-documented problems in Fairmont and throughout the county for decades, including a case in which a mother offered her daughter to be sexually abused in exchange for money.  Among the ways in which such problems have been addressed have been the use of tactics targeting their root cause: consumer level demand. In 2007 Fairmont Police assisted the Three Rivers Drug Task Force (consisting of officers from the Marion County Sheriff’s Department and the Fairmont Police Department) in conducting a reverse sting that resulted in the arrest of two local men. In 2016, Fairmont police assisted in conducting a reverse sting in Clarksburg, and arrested one sex buyer from Fairmont in the operation. In May, 2022, a local resident was charged with “houses of ill fame or assignation” stemming from an incident that took place within Fairmont city limits. The law is related to prostitution. According to West Virginia State Code, a person can be charged if they “engage in prostitution, lewdness, or assignation,” or if they solicit, induce, entice or procure another to commit those acts in order to reside, enter in or remain in any house, dwelling, or otherwise.” In this case, the man allegedly demanded sexual intercourse as payment for a place to stay, officers alleged.

The penalty for prostitution within Fairmont County, West Virginia is minimal, with a $50-$100 fine, and a possible 60 day to six month jail sentence that is rarely imposed (and usually after multiple arrests for soliciting).