Charleston is a coastal city with a population of 152,000.  Prostitution and sex trafficking in the city are well documented for over 140 years, and includes a relatively recent case of a prostituted woman being murdered in 2013. In November, 2021, three people were arrested after authorities discovered a prostitution and pornography-producing operation at a home in a West Ashley neighborhood. The Charleston Police Department arrested the three individuals, all Charleston residents, following a months-long investigation into suspected narcotics, prostitution, and a pornography production operation at a home on Dragonfly Drive near Bees Ferry Road. The multi-law enforcement agency investigation began in September of 2021 when authorities received reports of suspected prostitution out of the home. Police learned that they were selling drugs and running a brothel out of the Charleston house.

Local efforts to address such problems include operations designed to combat the consumer level demand that drives all prostitution, sex trafficking, and other crimes inherent in the sex trade.  The Charleston Police Department conducts street level reverse stings in areas about which they have received complaints about prostitution. The names, ages, and addresses of arrested sex buyers have been reported to the media. Vehicles have also been seized when used in the commission of a crime, including soliciting prostitution.

In July, 2017, the First Baptist School confirmed that its headmaster resigned after his arrest by North Charleston Police. He  had been charged with prostitution and open container/. Soon afterward, the First Baptist School of Charleston received the resignation of the sex buyer effective July 6, 2017. According to the incident report, the North Charleston S.P.E.E.D. Team conducted a prostitution enforcement operation with an undercover female officer posing as a “street-level prostitute.” The suspect made contact with the undercover officer in the area of Remount Road and Buskirk Avenue, and during a conversation, solicited a sex act in exchange for $30. Officers initiated a traffic stop and placed him under arrest.