New Waterford is a village in northeastern Columbiana County, Ohio. Its population was about 1,200 at the 2020 census, and it is classified as part of the Salem micropolitan area, about 18 miles south of Youngstown. Prostitution has been well documented locally and throughout the region for decades. 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.

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 February, 2022, the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force  arrested a man on charges of engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools. Police said the man was arrested as part of an undercover sex sting and transported to the Columbiana County jail by the New Waterford Police Department. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in Columbiana County Municipal Court. According to the Niles Christian Assembly website, the man served as the lead pastor at the church.

In September, 2022, a New Waterford man was fined $750, placed on two years probation, and ordered to complete 40 hours of community service and an anti-prostitution class for engaging in prostitution and possession of criminal tools.

In February, 2023, a man was charged in Columbiana County Court with engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools for allegedly arranging to meet an agent posing as an adult female for sexual activity in exchange for methamphetamine after answering an undercover ad then driving to New Waterford for the meeting Feb. 20.