Montgomery County has a population of approximately 536,000 residents, making it the fifth-most populous county in Ohio. The county seat is Dayton, and Montgomery County is part of the Dayton, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. Other cities in the county that have worked to address demand include Englewood, Huber Heights, Riverside, and Vandalia. Numerous problems associated with the local commercial sex market have been documented in the county, including targeted homicides of prostituted persons and arrests of individuals for prostitution while HIV-positive.

In response to chronic prostitution activity in the county and the numerous health and safety problems it generates, law enforcement agencies have pursued an aggressive and comprehensive strategy to identify and arrest sex buyers. Officers began conducting street-level reverse stings in 1989; operations have been routinely conducted, often using one or more undercover female officers as decoys. As men attempt to solicit sex from the women, they are apprehended by a backup team. Once arrested, sex buyers frequently have their names released to the media.

Recent examples include a web-based operation conducted in Dayton in December 2017. An ad was placed online and a detective posed as a prostituted person arranging meetings to exchange sex for money. Arrests were made at the meetup location when the buyers arrived and continued arranging for the commercial sex exchange. The Dayton Police Street Crimes Unit said the internet sting led to the arrest of 14 men; police also seized 13 cars and 13 cell phones. Prosecutors charged the suspects with soliciting, use of criminal tools, and some people faced minor drug charges. Detectives said their 3-day stings usually lead to the arrest of more than 10 people.

Identity disclosure is also a tactic used in cities within the county. In 1993, the Dayton police placed an advertisement in a local paper listing the names and identities of men recently arrested in a sex buyer sweep. Photos and identifiers of arrested sex buyers have been routinely release to news outlets. Dayton police have also at times sent letters to the homes of individuals whose cars were seen idling in areas known for commercial sex sales. In January 2019, the city of Dayton announced an initiative called “Buyer’s Remorse” designed to modernize its approach to combating prostitution and sex trafficking. It would make the information on anyone caught buying sex in Dayton “very” public, with the identities of convicted sex buyers included in social media ads geo-targeted to the offenders’ locations; their their names and addresses would also be added to a map on the website www.buyersremorsecampaign.com.

In June 2008, city law enforcement partnered with the Dayton Municipal Court’s Adult Probation Department to create a john school. Enrollment was limited to first-time offenders, and all participants paid a $250 enrollment fee. Once accepted into the program, sex buyers were required to attend a day-long course that included presentations from probation officers, city prosecutors, and public health officials. Between 2008 and 2010, 139 men completed the course, and only two are known to have subsequently re-offended.

In the city of Harrison  (a suburb of Cincinnati), police have responded to complaints from residents by conducting street-level reverse stings. Most of these operations occurred along a road known for prostitution, arresting several sex buyers each time. The police department encouraged citizens to call with information or complaints.

Englewood is located in the northern suburbs of Dayton, and similar to most other communities in surrounding Montgomery County, has reported problems with prostitution and sex trafficking for several years, with activities frequently arranged online and occurring in local hotels and motels. To address these issues, the Englewood Police Department partnered with Dayton police to conduct a web-based reverse sting in December 2014. Officers arrested 10 sex buyers over a three-day period. All of the men’s identities were released to the public.

Riverside is located east of Dayton. In April 2014, officers from the Riverside Police Department conducted a web-based reverse sting to intercept sex buyers attempting to purchase sex online. Within minutes of posting the ad, police received almost two dozen responses to the listing. Ultimately, six individuals, including at least one sex buyer, were arrested. All of the offenders’ names were released to the public.