Scipio is a town in Cayuga County, New York, with a population of approximately 1,500. The town is located in the southern half of the county, south of the city of Auburn and north of Ithaca. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity has been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities and in unincorporated areas of Cayuga County. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates result in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses.

To combat prostitution and sex trafficking in the area, local law enforcement agencies have targeted consumer-level demand for commercial sex, which provides the revenue stream driving all commercial sex and trafficking. In April 2016, a man was arrested and charged with patronizing a person for prostitution, and his identity was released by police to news outlets. The investigation began after a Cayuga County Sheriff’s deputy stopped a suspicious vehicle. They found a driver with a suspended license and a female passenger who claimed she was being driven to a Scipio residence to engage in prostitution. The following day, deputies arrested a 56-year-old man, accused of answering an online ad and soliciting the woman (arrested the previous day during the vehicle stop) via telephone to come to his Center Road home for sex. Deputies arrested him and charged him with third-degree patronizing of a person for prostitution. He was issued an appearance ticket for Scipio Town Court.