Mathews County is located in the Middle Peninsula area of Virginia. It is included in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, and has a population of roughly 8,500. Prostitution and sex trafficking are well-documented within the county. For example, in November 2019, a Virginia man was arrested and jailed without bail after allegedly trying to sex traffic a teenage girl. The girl’s mother is also accused of trafficking her. The 53-year-old man allegedly tried to take nude photos and perform sex acts in exchange for money with the 15-year-old girl. He was charged with human trafficking, solicitation of prostitution of a minor under 16 years old, forcible sodomy, two counts of manufacturing child pornography, and two counts of use of communications systems to facilitate offenses involving children, the Mathews County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post. The mother of the 15-year-old girl was arrested in November, a week after the suspect was, and charged with human trafficking, along with receiving money for procuring a person, receiving money from earnings, aiding prostitution under age 18, indecent liberties with children, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The mother was paid for her alleged role in bringing her teenage daughter to the man’s yacht. The girl was originally hired to clean the yacht but was then sexually abused for money, which went to her mother.