Mayville is a village with less than 1,500 residents in Chautauqua County, New York. It is located in the far southwestern corner of the state, near Lake Erie. Prostitution activity has been well-documented throughout Chautauqua County. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking of minors.

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 and the public disclosure of their identities. For example, in January, 2023,  the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district announced that a man was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and sex trafficking of a minor. The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office had received a complaint that the suspect had been sexually abusing two children over the prior eight years. A subsequent investigation identified a total of four minor victims. During interviews with investigators, the victims stated that the man raped or attempted to rape and sexually abused them. The suspect threatened them with violence or threatened to hurt their families if they disclosed what he was doing. The complaint stated that the man had regular sexually abusive contact with one minor victim beginning when she was eight years old, as often as three to four times each week. The minor victim told investigators that the man started paying her in exchange for sexual abuse, beginning when she was 13 years old until age 16 years old. On one occasion, the man took her to Erie, PA, to pick up drugs. Prior to returning home, the man stopped at a motel to repeatedly rape and physically abused her. The filed complaint was a result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office.