Lycoming County is a county of approximately 115,000 residents in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its county seat is Williamsport, PA. Lycoming County comprises the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area. Due to the county’s location along the Route 15 highway, prostitution and sex trafficking are pervasive issues within the county. According to officials, sex traffickers frequently stop in Williamsport, Lewisburg, and other towns between Harrisburg and New York state that are located along the Route 15 highway. Among the more serious issues associated with the county’s commercial sex market are child sex trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children. For example, in 2019, a three-part series by On the Pulse, that provided an in-depth look at the in-roads of sex trafficking in Lycoming County, the easy access provided by Route 15, and resources for youth trafficking victims was released. Part three of the series was a survivor story detailing the experience of a local survivor of child sex trafficking. According to the report, the survivor was sexually exploited by her mother in exchange for drugs or money when she was 12-years-old.

In effort to reduce the demand for prostitution and sex trafficking in the county, local law enforcement has deployed various demand reduction tactics such as web-based reverse stings and public disclosure of identities. During these investigations, officials post decoy advertisements on websites known for prostitution activity and arrange to meet potential sex buyers, whereupon their arrival, sex buyers are arrested. Some investigations specifically focus on individuals seeking to sexually exploit minors in exchange for money. For example, in October, 2021, three men were arrested and indicted by a federal grand jury in Williamsport on the charge of attempted enticement of a minor. In December of 2021, further information about the case revealed that offenders had responded to decoy ads on the website “Skip the Games,” and arranged to meet who they believed to be a 13-year-old girl in Lewisburg. The offenders, who had actually been in communication with law enforcement, were arrested upon their arrival to the predetermined location. The cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The identities of arrested offenders were included in reports by local media outlets.

Local law enforcement has also apprehended sex buyers through alternative investigations and residential complaints to police. For example, in 2020, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General alleged that a Williamsport Bureau of Police officer obtained sex acts from women in exchange for not charging them with crimes such as drug possession, driving with a suspended license, and theft. He allegedly used the police J-NET system, a secure police database, to access the private records of multiple women, some of whom he coerced into sexual relationships or harassed. It is further alleged that, “he ran ninety-three illegitimate checks through J-NET between June 14^th, 2015, and December 11^th, 2019, on twenty-eight different women including coworkers, county employees, and female suspects.” Additionally, 18 of the unauthorized checks through J-NET were of a single female he had coerced into engaging in sex acts in lieu of arrest. The 36-year-old Cogan Station officer in question, was arrested in December 2019 on one felony count of unlawful use of computer, and misdemeanor counts of unsworn falsification to authorities, tampering with public records, law obstruction, hindering apprehension, official oppression, and criminal coercion in 2020. Video footage from surveillance cameras was used during the investigation and court proceedings as a form of evidence demonstrating the offenses committed by the officer in question. As a result of his arrest, he resigned from the force in September 2020. The investigation was initiated through reports to local police officers. The former officer’s identity and image were included in reports by local media outlets.

In April 2021, a prostituted woman was charged with two misdemeanor counts of promoting prostitution in Lycoming County. She was arrested one week after being released from State Prison on parole. Police allegedly located the woman through a cooperating witness, a 58-year-old Fairfield Township man, who met previously the woman in March 2021, through an “escort website” called SkipTheGames. The male sex buyer allegedly told police he met the woman at the White Deer Motel and paid her $100 in exchange for oral sex. He was charged with disorderly conduct in exchange for serving as a cooperating witness during the investigation. Based on the information from the male sex buyer, an undercover trooper allegedly contacted the woman through her SkipTheGames profile and arranged a meeting with her the next day. When the undercover trooper picked up the woman in his unmarked car, she allegedly offered to provide sex acts. A traffic stop was then conducted on the undercover vehicle and the woman was taken into custody. She allegedly told police that she began engaging in commercial sex after her release from prison because she needed money. The identity of the male sex buyer was included in reports by local media outlets.

In September 2021, a Williamsport man was arrested for allegedly attempting to solicit a woman for sex and sending her a threatening text message. City police alleged in affidavit that the offender texted the woman on September 10th, 2021, “I will pay you $200 not $150” for sexual acts, in addition to sending her a threatening message later that same day, “Don’t tell (anyone) or you will get hurt.” Police said that offender also stalked the woman, telling her by phone or in text messages, “I saw you at the bank. I see you now.” The women also reported to police that she went to the offender’s home asking him to stop harassing her. Police stated that the offender continued with his actions despite the woman’s request. The man was officially arraigned on charges of prostitution, terroristic threats, stalking and harassment. The offender was initially jailed but was later released on $25,000 bail. The offender’s identity was included in reports by local media outlets.

In July 2019, the fourth annual report was released by the Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Pennsylvania at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. The report presented county-level data on arrests for purchasing sex in Pennsylvania (the state has separate statutes for buying versus selling sex) during calendar year 2018. The report’s data comes from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, and during 2018 there were three arrested sex buyers in Lycoming County that were charged under the statute for purchasing sex (18 Pa.C.S. § 5902(e)). It is important to note that there may have been larger numbers of arrested sex buyers, since some cities and counties may choose to handle such cases by issuing civil citations for violating prostitution ordinances in local courts or magistrate’s offices, rather than charging with a state criminal offenses in district courts.