Russellville is a city of about 11,000 residents, located in northwestern Alabama approximately 70 miles west of Huntsville. Russellville is the county seat of Franklin County. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been well-documented in the city and surrounding areas. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates result in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. For example, in 2015, two men were arrested on kidnapping and other charges in connection to allegedly trying to use a woman for prostitution. Russellville Police officers responded to a domestic disturbance call at a hotel on Alabama 43, and reportedly found it was related to an attempt at forced prostitution. The victim went to Russellville with the two suspects, not realizing they wanted to use her for prostitution. When she found out at the motel and refused to comply, the men tried to hold her there against her will, and assaulted her when she tried to make a phone call. She reportedly got outside the room, but the men followed and as they tried to force her back into the room, someone saw the altercation and called police.

In April 2005, a Russellville man was arrested and accused of asking a juvenile for a sex act in exchange for money. The suspect was accused of approaching a child in a public restroom and offering to pay the juvenile victim $50 to sexually abuse them. The victim pushed past the suspect and ran out of the restroom, where he reported the act to store employees. Store employees called the Russellville Police, and warrants were obtained for the man’s arrest. The suspect was arrested and charged with prostitution (soliciting a person for a sex act in exchange for money), harassment, and indecent exposure. All of the charges were misdemeanors that carried a potential one-year jail sentence upon conviction. More recently, such acts against a juvenile could carry felony charges. This operation was not a reverse sting, since it was not a proactive effort to detect and apprehend sex buyers, but it does meet the criteria for other sex buyer arrests and identity disclosure, since the identity of the arrested sex buyer was publicly disclosed by police.