Pownal is a town in Bennington County, Vermont with a population was just over 3,400. Prostitution and sex trafficking in the Pownal area and throughout Bennington County (as well as the state) have been very well documented. A number of human trafficking investigations across Vermont between 2013 and 2016 — including in Bennington, Burlington, Shelburne, Colchester, Williston, and Rutland — involved massage spas and parlors serving as fronts for illegal activity. Authorities said that traffickers would bring young women to Vermont from overseas or other states and force them into commercial sex. Localized prostitution has also been well documented, with arrests made in Bennington massage businesses in 2013 and 2019. In June,  2013, the owner of a Vermont massage parlor that was searched as part of an investigation into possible human trafficking and prostitution was cited on a charge of prostitution. Two spas had been searched by Bennington Police, FBI agents and Vermont State Police . Authorities said as many as 10 women may have been forced to work in Bennington at the spas.