North Port is a city of roughly 80,000 residents in Sarasota County, Florida. It is part of the North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area, on the state’s lower Gulf Coast. North Port is the largest city in Sarasota County. Prostitution and sex trafficking have been identified by law enforcement as substantial problems in the city and throughout the county, and residents have complained to police about prostitution and trafficking, and their related crimes, in multiple neighborhoods.

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 August, 2014, a University of South Florida student, a Florida Department of Corrections officer and a mother trafficking her adult daughter were among 11 apprehended in a weeklong Internet child sexual abuse sting led by the North Port Police Department.  Operation Guardian Angel used online advertisements and social media posts to lure in predators that traveled to engage in sexual abuse of a child 14 years of age or younger. When suspects arrived in North Port to meet with who they thought were minors, they were arrested.

Other demand reduction tactics used in the city include the public disclosure of sex buyer identities and employment loss.  For example, in October 2016, eight men were arrested and charged after being caught in a prostitution sting conducted by Punta Gorda Police Department and the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office at a Punta Gorda hotel. Law enforcement set up a dummy account on backpage.com and offered services; the men were arrested when they responded to the ad and negotiated to pay $50 for oral sex, and arrived at the arranged location to complete the transaction.  One of the arrested sex buyers had a volunteer coaching position with the North Port Youth Soccer Club (a non-profit organization) and subsequently resigned from his position and any other affiliation with the league.