Marshall County is located in northern Indiana, with a population of approximately 46,000. The county seat is the city of Plymouth. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity has been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities and unincorporated areas of Marshall County. For example, in June 2019, a Plymouth woman charged with trying to pimp her teenage daughter pled guilty to promoting prostitution and was sentenced to a year in jail. The Marshall County Prosecutor’s Office charged the 41-year-old woman with a single count of promoting prostitution, a Level 4 felony punishable by 2 to 12 years in prison. Local media did not name the woman because it could identify her 13-year-old daughter, the victim.

In January 2021, a 23-year-old Plymouth woman was arrested and held in the Marshall County Jail on a charge of Promotion of Child Sexual Trafficking as a level 3 felony. Her arrest stemmed from a case involving a 39-year-old man arrested by Plymouth Police for Sexual Misconduct with a Minor and Child Solicitation. The woman was present when the man sexually abused a 15-year-old female multiple times. Police located several text messages between the woman, the male abuser, and the teenage victim several days before and after the incident. Court papers said the woman did knowingly or intentionally recruit and/or entice a child less than 18 years of age with the intent of causing the victim to engage in prostitution.

Commercial sex and trafficking activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates result in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Efforts to address these crimes have included operations designed to apprehend and sanction sex buyers. For example, in August 2017, a pastor was arrested during a sting in Marshall County that involved three informants working with police. The man was charged with patronizing a prostitute and other offenses. He was booked into the Marshall County Jail on a $60,000 cash bond. The man’s identity was included in news releases. He later pled guilty to two counts and was sentenced to two years in Marshall County Community Corrections. The charges were for dealing in a schedule II controlled substance (level 6 felony), and patronizing a prostitute (class A misdemeanor). Six other charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement. The offender had been the director of “Care and Share Ministries,” a nonprofit aimed at helping provide emergency shelter for families in crisis. One of the informants was a recovering opiate addict who attended “Care and Share,” but the man exploited his role to take advantage of those in vulnerable circumstances. Initially helpful, the man began asking for sex in return for his financial assistance. The woman contacted authorities and agree to be wired to document her interaction with the offender, who showed up at the door naked and offered her money and drugs for sex. She got the interaction on tape, leaving the house with money and drugs. The two other informants also came forward, leading to the plea agreement and the two-year sentence.