Palmer has a population of approximately 6,000 residents and is the ninth largest city in Alaska. The community is located 42 miles northeast of Anchorage, and serves as the goverment seat of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Prostitution and sexual trafficking activity has been documented in Palmer and in other areas of the Mat-Su Valley. Violence against prostituted persons, drugs, and cases of targeted homicide against individuals in the commercial sex industry have been documented in the city and surrounding areas. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse material (‘child pornography’). For example, in 2016, a Palmer, Alaska man was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment in Federal Court in Anchorage on six counts of child sexual exploitation crimes. He was convicted of producing “child pornography” (child sexual abuse materials, or CSAM), using two children under his control. He used nitrous oxide to make them compliant with the abuse. Additionally, Alaska State Troopers arrested a husband and wife from Palmer in 2015 on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of child pornography. Upon examination, troopers found child sexual abuse material on their electronics and discovered that the couple had sexually abused a juvenile in 2013 and 2014. They were placed in custody.

In addition to arresting and prosecuting individuals involved in child sexual exploitation crimes, local police have participated in demand reduction operations, targeting individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex with adults and minors. For example, in October 2009, members of the Palmer Police Department and Wasilla Police Department collaborated with the Anchorage Police Department and FBI to conduct a web-based reverse sting. The operation placed decoy advertisements on Craigslist and other internet sites known for commercial sex activity. This was part of a national push to find child sex trafficking victims. While no child victims were found, 10 sex buyers were arrested for soliciting prostitution. Their identities were not immediately released to the public, but were disclosed eventually.