Attleboro is a city about 47,000 residents located in Bristol County, Massachusetts, near the Rhode Island border. Other cities of note within Bristol County are Fall River, Seekonk, and Taunton. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking and homicide of women engaged in prostitution. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses.

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. To identify and apprehend local sex buyers driving the prostitution and sex trafficking markets, local police have conducted reverse stings. For example, in December 2018 a prostitution sting at a South Attleboro motel resulted in the arrests of six male sex buyers who allegedly arranged to meet an undercover police officer posing as a woman offering sex for cash. Attleboro police had set up the sting at a room at the motel with the cooperation of the owner and motel management. An undercover police officer answered the text messages arranging a meeting for sex allegedly sent by the defendants. In the text messages, the undercover officer offered sex acts for between $60 and $120. The defendants allegedly agreed to meet at the motel and were directed to the room in the text conversations. The suspects were arraigned in Attleboro District Court on charges of offering to engage in sexual conduct for a fee, soliciting prostitution and attempting to commit a crime. The suspects were identified in news releases.