Jonesboro is a city located in northeastern Arkansas, in Craighead County, and has a population of about 80,000 people. Prostitution and child sex trafficking have been well-documented in the city for decades. Local business owners and residents have complained about prostitution in certain neighborhoods.  Some city residents have written down the license plate numbers of cars seen idling in high “stroll” areas, and posting signs warning sex buyers and others that their plates numbers would be recorded and reported to law enforcement.

The Jonesboro Police Department  has conducted street-level reverse stings since at least 2003, and web-based reverse stings since at least 2011. During a weeklong web-based reverse sting operation in 2011, for example, 11 male sex buyers were arrested.  As part of their punishment, their names, ages, and cities of residence were published in local media along with the fact that they were arrested for solicitation. Although some major news outlets opted not to publicize the identities of those arrested, the Jonesboro Sun has reported the names of sex buyers arrested in the community since at least 2003.