Hanover is an unincorporated community of about 13,000 residents in Anne Arundel County, MD.  It is located south of Baltimore, along the same highway corridor as other Maryland cities experiencing high levels of prostitution, sex trafficking, and related violence, especially in the area of Jessup and Laurel.  For example, at a hotel in Hanover, just south of BWI airport, a prostituted woman in 2011 from California was raped by two men who forced their way into her room.  Sex trafficking has been reported in Hanover and its neighboring communities.

To combat consumer-level demand for commercial sex, the Anne Arundel County Police Department conducted a web-based reverse sting in November, 2013, resulting in the arrest of nine male sex buyers from three states.  Detectives received calls and text messages from 69 different phone numbers during the operation, and exchanged correspondence with sex buyers discussing prices and scheduling appointments.  After the operation, police continued reviewing the phone numbers in an attempt to identify those who contacted the undercover officer.