Kirkland, a city of approximately 49,000 residents, is located in King County, Washington. It is considered a suburb of Seattle located on the East side of Lake Washington. Prostitution and sex trafficking are known problems in the city that have been investigatede by local and federal law enforcement, and have generated complaints from the community.  To combat consumer-level demand, the Kirkland Police Department conducted an operation in July 2013 that lasted approximately two hours, at a Motel 6. Four men were arrested and their ages and hometowns were released to the media, but not their names or other identifiers. The two prostituted women were jailed but have not yet been charged.

In August, 2013, a Kirkland man pleaded guilty to assault in the second degree after being arrested for having sex with a 15-year-old girl used for prostitution in 2012 at his Kirkland condo. He initially pleaded not guilty to rape of a child and commercial sex abuse of a minor.  He acknowledged that he intended to commit the felony of commercial sexual abuse of a minor, intentionally assaulted the victim, and had unwanted physical contact with her and was arrested for commercial sexual abuse of a minor. A King County prosecuting attorney recommended he receive six months of jail time and a $1,700 fine for second-degree assault; was required to pay $500 to the victim, a $100 DNA test fee, and have no contact with the girl for 10 years, and must attend “John school,” an educational intervention aimed at clients of prostitutes, and also complete a sexual deviancy treatment program. He also was ordered not to visit any websites or chat rooms “where escort or prostitution services are advertised or provided” and he cannot have any unsupervised contact with minors except under the permission of his treatment provider.