Wilsonville is a city in Oregon of approximately 27,000 residents, located primarily in Clackamas County, OR, with a portion of the northern section of the city being located in Washington County, OR. Instances of prostitution and sex trafficking have been documented in the city and surrounding areas. Among the more serious issues surrounding the area’s commercial sex market is child sex trafficking.

Although prostitution and sex trafficking are not substantial issues in the community, efforts to deter sex buyers and sex traffickers have been reported. For example, in May 2017, a prostitution investigation by Wilsonville police, resulted in the arrest of a suspected sex buyer/trafficker. According to reports, an attempted arrest in a prostitution investigation by Wilsonville police, led to a pursuit that ended in a crash and the opening of a larger sex trafficking investigation by Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators with Wilsonville Police had attempted to stop a suspect vehicle around 4:30 a.m. when the vehicle drove away from the scene. Deputies saw at least one female victim in the vehicle, so they began pursuing the vehicle. The suspect’s vehicle struck another vehicle not involved in the pursuit, causing deputies to cease their pursuit. The suspect vehicle was then located in Tualatin near Nyberg Road and Nyberg Lane where the car had become suspended in a tree. A Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit arrived on the scene and helped locate the suspected sex buyer, who was then taken into custody. As a result of the investigation, the two women were rescued from the car and taken to the hospital for treatment. The incident led the sheriff’s office to initiate a larger human trafficking investigation, with units from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Tualatin Police Department, Lake Oswego Police Department, and Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue participating in the response and investigation. The suspect in the incident, an 18-year-old Covington, Washington, man was undergoing medical treatment for a condition unrelated to the incident. Deputies stated that after treatment, he was expected to be booked into the Clackamas County Jail on charges of eluding police, assault, and possession of methamphetamine. Deputies stated further investigation was being conducted as police suspected the man to have been sex trafficking the two women found in the vehicle. Additional arrests were pending the investigation. The sex buyer/traffickers identity, image, and age were included in reports by local media outlets.