Latrobe is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The city population was just under 8,000 at the 2020 census. Latrobe was incorporated as a city in 1999. Prostitution activity has been well-documented within the city and nearby communities, and in unincorporated areas of the county. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking. Some cases of local sex trafficking have also involved child sexual abuse materials (CSAM, often referred to in state laws as “child pornography).

Consumer level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking, and has therefore been targeted by local law enforcement agencies as a strategy for prevention and response. Demand reduction tactics used in the town include the arrest of sex buyers, the public disclosure of their identities and employment loss. For example, in November, 2020 a Latrobe-area family counselor was arrested and faced numerous allegations of sexually abusing minors who came to him for help.  He was first charged after a 15-year-old girl claimed that two years earlier, he paid her $60 to see three nude self portraits stored on her digital device. Police said nine additional accusers came forward over the next several months, including one who claimed she was raped by the man in 2011. An officer with the Latrobe Police Department said that when the man was arrested, “He has had therapy sessions with these children for years before he initiated any of this contact.” The licensed family counselor was initially charged with sexually abusing young girls who came to his office, with some of the abuse alleged to have occurred inside the man’s downtown Latrobe office, and some took place where he lived. Additional charges were added as more victims came forward. His 2020 charges included rape, sexual assault, promoting prostitution, human trafficking, possession of child pornography and harassment offenses. His charges from a February, 2021 arraignment included aggravated indecent assault and promoting prostitution of a minor. The final charge was a result of the allegations that the man gave the latest alleged victim money after he sexually abused her. The man had his license to practice suspended mental health therapist wants seven separate juries to hear evidence from 10 former patients who claim they were victims of sexual assaults, harassed, groped or subjected to other inappropriate behavior during counseling sessions over the prior decade.