Muncie is a city located in central Indiana with a population of roughly 65,000.  Prostitution activity has been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities, and in unincorporated areas of the county. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking. Documented cases of prostitution rings involving sex trafficked teens have occurred in the city.

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. Police began conducting reverse stings in Muncie in 1996.  The identities of those arrested have been released to local news outlets.  Police have also taken the cell phones of women arrested for prostitution and used them to make appointments with sex buyers, who were subsequently arrested. More recent operations have used decoy internet ads to attract the attention of sex buyers, including those seeking to pay to sexually abuse children.  For example, in 2018 a sexual predator sting called “Operation Child’s Play” was conducted by members of the Delaware County Narcotics Unit.  A member of the task force posted an ad on “numerous” escort websites and received about 400 text messages in reply. The officer who posted the ad was posing as a 15-year-old.