Mount Pocono is a borough of about 3,000 people in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, located in the northeastern part of the Poconos Mountains region of the state. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been well-documented in the community and throughout the county. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates result in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local prostitution market is sex trafficking. For example, in February 2018, at least four arrests were made as a result of an investigation into a drug and sex-trafficking ring in Monroe County. The conspirators were accused of distributing crack cocaine, heroin, and other drugs from New York to Stroudsburg, PA to Maine, starting in 2010. They were also charged with four counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion between 2011 and 2014, for compelling women by intimidation and drugs to engage in prostitution at hotels and motels in the Monroe County area, and posting ads in the adult entertainment section of a website to solicit buyers for prostitution. The indictment alleged they were part of a street gang called the “Black-P-Stones,” whose members were “beaten-in” or “sexed-in” to the gang.

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. For example, in January 2019, two men were charged with patronizing prostitution at a Mount Pocono hotel. Police posted ads online, showing pictures of a nude female and a phone number used by an officer posing undercover as the female in the pictures. Authorities also set up surveillance at the hotel. The undercover officer began communicating by phone with the men, who arranged separate meetings with the female officer at the hotel and offered to pay $75 for sex. Once in the hotel room, the men engaged in conversation with the officer and then paid her for sex. They were then arrested. Their identities were included in news releases.