Portsmouth, OH

Tactics Used

Auto Seizure
Buyer Arrests
Cameras
Community Service
Employment Loss
Identity Disclosure
IT Based Tactics
John School
Letters
License Suspension
Neighborhood Action
Public Education
Reverse Stings
SOAP Orders
Web Stings

Portsmouth is a city of approximately 18,000 residents situated along the northern banks of the Ohio River in Scioto County, about 30 miles northwest of Ashland, Kentucky. Commercial sex, including the sex trafficking of minors, has been reported in the community for several decades. Portsmouth has also documented at least one case of prostitution-related homicide; in August 2014, the body of a teenage girl was pulled from the Ohio River in Portsmouth. In the weeks that followed, a 46-year-old man from Racine, Ohio, was arrested and charged with murdering the teen after the two allegedly “met over the internet, where she had placed an ad on Craigslist.com.” The man was charged with murder, felony tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, and two counts of compelling prostitution.

In an effort to reduce commercial sex, trafficking, and related problems in the area, the Portsmouth Police Department has conducted reverse stings since at least 2008, if not earlier. Operations have been typically conducted at street level, with one or more female undercover officers posing as decoys. Law enforcement has continued to target prostituted women and girls for arrest, and often run sex buyer stings in parallel with stings targeting prostituted women. Once arrested, individuals charged with prostitution-related offenses have had their names released to the public.

Key Partners

  • Portsmouth Police Department

Key Sources

Reverse Stings, Identity Disclosure:

Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:

Background on Prostitution in the Area:

  • “Weekend Sting Leads to More Arrests, Three Women Face Solicitation Charges, Are Released from Jail,” Portsmouth Daily Times, May 6 2008.
  • “Prostitute Arrested after Soliciting Officer,” Portsmouth Daily Times, May 29 2008.
  • “Woman Charged with Solicitation,” Portsmouth Daily Times, February 21 2009.
  • “Prostitution Target Nets 7 Arrests,” Portsmouth Daily Times, July 10 2009.
  • “8 Women Face Solicitation Charges,” Portsmouth Daily Times, January 26 2013.
  • “Woman Arrested for Solicitation,” Portsmouth Daily Times, March 26 2013.

Documented Violence Against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area:

State Ohio
Type City
Population 18014
Location
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