Jefferson County is located in eastern Ohio, and has a population of about 65,000 residents. Its county seat is the city of Steubenville. Prostitution has been a persistent and visible problem in the area for decades, and has been linked to related crimes including targeted homicides of women in prostitution and sex trafficking of minors. Guided by community complaints, local law enforcement agencies have periodically conduct street-level reverse stings in an effort to curtail demand for commercial sex. Operations have typically employed an undercover female officer who poses as a decoy. When sex buyers attempt to solicit sex from her, they are apprehended by police.

To deter other would-be sex buyers, police have routinely released arrestees’ names and other identifying information to the local media. For example, in January 2011, the Steubenville Police Department conducted a phone-based sting that culminated in the arrest of a man attempting to buy sex from someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. After officers were notified that the man was actively searching the city’s downtown area for underaged prostituted girls, the department launched a reverse sting. A police employee posed as a 14-year-old girl and made contact with the man by phone. The sex buyer then solicited sex from the officer, and arranged for the two to meet. When he arrived, he was arrested by police. His name was also disclosed to the local media. This event illustrates the presence of a local market for commercial sexual exploitation of children.

In 2019, four men were arrested and charged with soliciting prostitution during a sting operation conducted by the Jefferson County Drug Task Force. A Drug Task Force officer said a male and a female undercover officer from the Weirton police department were used in the police operation. All arrested individuals were issued a summons to appear in Steubenville Municipal Court. The sting operation took place in the 500 block of North Street and the 200 block of South Fourth Street. The City Manager announced the sting operation was organized “because of a request made a couple of months ago by 6th Ward Councilman Bob Villamagna and several local business owners.”