Pickens County is a county of about 125,000 residents in northwestern South Carolina, on the border with North Carolina. Its county seat is Pickens. The county is part of the Greenville–Anderson–Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Identity disclosure and employment loss are consequences of sex buying that have occurred in the county. In March 2018, a man who worked as an after school program employee with the Pickens County School District was arrested as part of “Operation Millstone,” the largest reverse sting operation conducted by the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office. He had engaged in online conversation with a person he believed to be a minor and encouraged them to engage in sexual acts with him. He also allegedly sent obscene photos of himself to the person he believed was a minor and encouraged them to send naked images to him. His identity was released to the press. After his arrest, a letter was sent by the principal to parents of children in the Chastain Road Elementary after school program informing them of his arrest for criminal solicitation of a minor and stating that he was no longer employed in the school district. The charges were not related to any students at the school.