South Coatesville is a borough of roughly 1,600 residents in southeastern Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, located within Chester County, PA. Cases of prostitution and sex trafficking have been documented in the borough. This activity and its ancillary crimes has resulted in complaints to local law enforcement from residents and businesses. For example, in 2001, a large scale prostitution ring was discovered in Chester County by Pennsylvania State Police troopers. Officers subsequently conducted an investigation and obtained information based on community complaints, surveillance, and undercover communication with suspects. As a result of the operation, three male sex buyers were arrested on prostitution charges and three women were arrested for engaging in prostitution.

Consumer level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking, and demand reduction tactics used in the community, including the arrest of sex buyers and the public disclosure of their identities, and employment loss. For example, in June, 1987, a South Coatesville borough police officer was arrested on charges that he offered to pay a woman’s traffic fine in exchange for sex, according to Chester County Sheriff’s Office detectives. The 69 year old Coatesville resident was arraigned on charges of criminal solicitation to commit prostitution and criminal attempt to obstruct administration of the law. The man had been a 20 year police veteran who worked as a part-time officer for South Coatesville before his arrest. According to the report by detectives, the men had offered to pay a $103 speeding ticket he had written against a 19 year old woman if the woman agreed to have sex with him.  The man’s identity was included in news reports, and his employment with the police department was terminated.