North Conway is a city of approximately 2,400 residents, located in the White Mountains region of eastern New Hampshire.  Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been well-documented in the region.  For example, a 14-year-old girls was abducted in Conway in October, 2013, as she walked home from Kennett High School. The man held her at his Gorham home and abused her as a sex slave for nine months.  He had also manufactured counterfeit bills and used them to pay prostituted women, one of whom tried to use the fake money to pay for items at Walmart and was arrested. He was eventually arrested and charged with 182 charges of kidnapping, criminal threatening, criminal use of a weapon, felonious use of a firearm, indecent exposure, falsifying physical evidence, sale of controlled drug, aggravated felonious sexual assault and felonious sexual assault. He pleaded guilty to seven separate criminal charges and was sentenced to 45-90 years in a state prison outside of New Hampshire.

Some of the local efforts to address these and other crimes have included the use of tactics that address consumer demand. For example, in January 2019 a Kennett High School teacher’s aide was fired after he was arrested on charges of uploading images of child pornography and using them to lure potential victims. The resident of  North Conway had been working with special needs students. The New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force teamed with Conway police on this investigation that began when a social media provider gave a tip to law enforcement.  Investigators traced the tipped internet address to the man’s home, and following a search warrant he was arrested after police found  images of a minor engaged in sexual conduct.  He was charged with two counts of child pornography possession, each a felony that carries a prison term of 7.5 to 15 years.  The man’s identity was disclosed publicly.

In February, 2019 a 21-year-old man was arrested on a prostitution charge after a police officer approached a vehicle parked at gas station in North Conway, NH. A Conway Police officer was on patrol in North Conway and approached the vehicle because the circumstances seemed suspicious. Police said the woman was behind the wheel of a car, and the man was in the passenger seat. An investigation determined both of their identities, and that the pair had previously arranged online to meet and exchange money for sex.  The woman in the car was charged with two counts of prostitution, along with several other charges. The man was arrested for soliciting prostitution, and his identity was publicly disclosed.