Parkersburg is a city in West Virginia of approximately 30, residents. It is the government seat of Wood County. Instances of prostitution and sex trafficking have been well-documented in the city and surrounding areas. This activity and its ancillary crimes have generated residential complaints to local law enforcement agencies.
As a result of the investigation, eight men were arrested after allegedly agreeing to sexually exploit a minor under the age of sixteen in exchange for money. According to a statement from Sheriff Matt Champlin, the investigation was a response to concerns for the safety of youth in county and their access to technology,. As your Sheriff this scares me, as a parent myself this absolutely terrifies me.
Over the past several months, I have guided and directed an investigative team as we have performed online investigations to determine if there is a threat to our youth through online platforms which provide for prostitution or other unlawful sexual acts against our children. In effort to reduce instances of commercial sex in the city, various demand reduction tactics have been deployed in the city, specifically targeting individuals seeking to purchase commercial sex.
For example, in , the Parkersburg Police Department conducted an investigation into prostitution and other illicit activities occurring in the area. Police used online advertisements posted on websites known for commercial sex to communicate and meet with both prostituted women and sex buyers.
As a result of the investigation, two male sex buyers and five prostituted women were arrested. The identities of arrested offenders were included in reports by local media outlets. According to reports, an operation was conducted a few years prior to the operation that resulted in the arrest of six men for similar offenses.
