Saginaw is a city of about 48,000 residents in Mid-Michigan, and is the seat of Saginaw County. Prostitution and sex trafficking, including multiple instances of child sex trafficking, have been well-documented in the city, resulting in complaints from residents. For example, in 2013 a local woman was arrested for arranging ‘sex dates’ on Backpage.com for a 14-year-old girl in her care. The girl told the FBI she began living with the woman after she was expelled from school and ran away from home. In March 2017, a 16-year-old runaway girl was trafficked for drug money by a couple who also posted naked photos of her and sex ads on the internet. There has also been a case in which a trafficked woman killed her pimp in self-defense after being beaten multiple times.

At least two opportunistic arrests of a sex buyer have occurred in the city. In July, 2022, a man was arrested in an incident where a woman walking away from her vehicle on the city’s East Side, an area known for prostitution, was approached by a man on a bicycle who offered her money in exchange for sex. The woman told the man she was not in prostitution and asked him to leave her alone, then continued on her way. The man followed her and yelled at the woman to pull down her pants. The victim asked the defendant, “Are you going to rape me?” to which the defendant replied, “Yea,” and then tried grabbing the woman, causing her to fall to the ground. The woman escaped and ran to a nearby gas station to call for help. The man was arrested and charged with assault with intent to commit sexual penetration and larceny from a person. Once identified, authorities learned that the man had a long criminal history. Two decades previously, the same man had sexually assaulted two Saginaw women, who awoke to find the offender in their homes. Both women managed to fight off and escape their assailant, who was later caught, convicted, and imprisoned. Paroled in early 2021, the man was charged with trying to rape the woman after soliciting her for prostitution. The man was identified in news reports.

In February, 2023, a Saginaw man found himself in jail after calling 911 to report he paid a prostituted woman for a service she was unwilling to provide. The 34-year-old man placed the call requesting police to his residence in the 2100 block of Brockway Street, according to Saginaw Police. The man said he had paid a woman $10 for a sex act, and that she then reneged on the deal. The man told police he wanted his money back. The 24-year-old woman was still present when officers arrived. Officers arrested the man on a misdemeanor charge of accosting and solicitation, and the woman on a charge of prostitution.