This thesis is a content analysis of news about sex trafficking published in the US from 2001 to 2013. The focus of the research is the portrayal of sex traffickers in the news. The project discovered that in the news, the public image of sex traffickers is overwhelmingly people of color who are described to be violent, deceptive and forcible. In addition, sex traffickers are portrayed to make sense of the simplistic representation of powerless female trafficking victims. The portrayal of sex traffickers in the news is simplistic and is driven by the state's response to sex trafficking: punishment of sex traffickers.