Onslow County, North Carolina has a population of just over 200,000, and its  county seat is the city of Jacksonville. Prostitution activity has been well-documented within the county, 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. Demand reduction tactics used in the county include the arrest of sex buyers and the public disclosure of their identities. For example, in January, 2023, a registered sex offender who had sexually assaulted a teenage girl he had tried to persuade to engage in sex trafficking was arrested. Onslow County Sheriff’s Office deputies charged the man with “solicitation of a minor for prostitution” and sexual battery. The assault occurred in December, 2022 when the girl was lured to a vacant home. During the assault, the man offered to pay the victim in exchange for the sexual abuse acts. The man was later identified and arrested, and his identity was publicly disclosed.  Records showed the man was previously convicted in 1996 for taking indecent liberties with a child, and convicted again in 2009 for sexual battery.