Charlotte County is a county of roughly 187,000 residents, located south of Sarasota on Florida’s western coast. It contains the communities of Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte, among others. Commercial sex activity, often arranged online, has been reported in the county for years – particularly in storefront brothels such as massage businesses and nail salons. Minors […]
Baxter is a small city of less than 10,000 residents, situated in central Minnesota’s Crow Wing County, near Brainerd. In May 2015, officers with the Baxter and Brainerd Police Departments, and Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office, conducted what they described as a “first-of-its-kind” operation targeting sex buyers in the community. Law enforcement placed a decoy advertisement […]
Covington is a small city of just over 14,000 residents, situated 35 miles southeast of Atlanta in Newton County, Georgia, near Conyers. Prostitution, conducted both indoors and at street level, has been reported in the community in recent years and has generated complaints to law enforcement. In late May 2015, the Covington Police Department conducted […]
Clermont is a city of over 44,000 residents, located in suburban central Florida’s Lake County, west of Orlando and southeast of Leesburg. Prostitution activity has been reported in the community, and has generated complaints to law enforcement. Minors have also been recovered during anti-prostitution investigations in the city. Local law enforcement have conducted at least one reverse […]
Ellensburg is a city of approximately 20,000 residents in Washington state, located in Kittitas County, just north of Yakima. Prostitution activity has been documented throughout the city and in surrounding areas. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market are child sex trafficking, sexual exploitation of children, and violence committed against […]
Winona County is a county of just under 50,000 residents, located in southeastern Minnesota. Prostitution and sex trafficking are well-documented problems in the community, and have generated complaints to law enforcement. In addition to overseeing or assisting with city-level anti-prostitution efforts in Winona, county local law enforcement agencies have conducted at least two reverse stings. […]
Whitehall is a city of approximately 20,000 residents, located in the southeastern suburbs of Columbus in Franklin County, Ohio. Local residents and law enforcement have reported problems with prostitution activity in the community for at least two decades. At least one case involving the sex trafficking of minors has been documented in Whitehall. In August […]
Ashland is a city of approximately 20,000 residents, located in north-central Ohio’s Ashland County, near Mansfield. Consumer level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking, and has therefore been targeted by local law enforcement agencies as a strategy for prevention and response. In their efforts to deter sex buyers and reduce the […]
Artesia is a small city of approximately 16,000 residents, located in southeast Los Angeles County, CA, near Norwalk and Cerritos. Though reports of prostitution in the community remain limited, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has collaborated with local police to reduce the demand for commercial sex in the city. For example, in late May […]
Muskegon Heights is a small city of close to 10,000 residents, situated northwest of Grand Rapids near Muskegon and Norton Shores in Muskegon County, Michigan. Prostitution has posed chronic and visible problems in the community for several years. In 2012, for example, two adults and one juvenile female were convicted of kidnapping a woman involved […]
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