Hamilton is a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio with a population of about 63,000 residents. It is the county seat of Butler County and the tenth-largest city in Ohio. A wide range of problems have been linked to the local prostitution market, including the assault and robbery of prostituted women and the sex buyers who purchase them. These problems have resulted in resident complaints to law enforcement. There has also been documented sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation in the city. For example, in August 2020, a Hamilton man was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of sex trafficking and exploiting a child after trafficking a 16-year-old girl from September 2019 to January 2020. The man allegedly forced the girl to perform sex for money and created child sexual abuse materials (i.e., child pornography) during this period.

Vice officers of the Hamilton Police Department have routinely conducted street-level prostitution stings, often in response to complaints from residents. Those arrested have had their names, photos, and other identifying information shared with the media, and some have had their vehicles impounded. For example, in June 2011, a reverse sting resulted in the arrest of 11 people suspected of prostitution-related crimes. The Butler County Sheriff’s Office initiated an undercover action on East Avenue through the afternoon and into the evening. Eight women and three men were charged with soliciting, a third-degree misdemeanor. All were arraigned in city Municipal Court, where the cases were continued. The Sheriff’s Office said the neighborhood was plagued by blatant prostitution and they orchestrated the crackdown after receiving repeated complaints from neighbors. Hamilton police have also done regular solicitation sweeps, sometimes partnering with the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, and deputies have regularly helped out area departments throughout the county to conduct stings.

Employment loss is another consequence of sex buying that has occurred in Hamilton. In June 2019, a longtime Hamilton City Police officer was arrested for soliciting prostitution after responding to an online advertisement and agreeing to pay $80 for 30 minutes in a Dayton web-based sting. The officer pleaded guilty to loitering to engage in solicitation and was ordered to attend john school. The man told the Hamilton Police Chief about the arrest and volunteered to retire, but the chief pressed for a full investigation, after which the officer was retired by the department following his initial suspension.