Over 160 Arrested in Massive Human Trafficking Sting, Including a Teacher, a Professor and a Politician

Republican Ohio Legal professional Basic Dave Yost introduced Monday that 161 folks had been arrested and 51 potential human trafficking victims had been helped as a part of a weeklong, state-wide anti-human trafficking operation that culminated Friday.

The anti-human trafficking sting, Operation Ohio Is aware of, was the biggest in Ohio’s historical past, based on a news release on Yost’s web site.

Among the many 161 folks arrested had been three who had been searching for to purchase intercourse from minors. Others that Yost talked about had been a trainer, a firefighter, a professor, a pilot, a house enchancment contractor, a metropolis council member and a person who had a two-year-old in his automotive when he was apprehended.

“This isn’t simply one thing that occurs down within the ‘hood on this metropolis,” Yost mentioned in a 53-minute news conference that he held on Monday on the Ohio Statehouse. “It’s in each county. It’s in each city. That is occurring throughout Ohio. Poor neighborhoods, wealthy neighborhoods. Educated, uneducated. Black, white. It doesn’t matter.”

“It occurs all over the place, and that’s why this combat is so essential. And I cannot relaxation till nobody in Ohio buys or sells human beings,” he mentioned.

The sting was a collaboration, which Yost known as “a collegial effort,” amongst almost 100 federal, state, and native regulation enforcement companies partnering with each nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations. Its goal was to lower the demand for these searching for to pay for intercourse moderately than give attention to the people who promote it.

Yost referred to a current Ohio statute that makes the punishment for getting intercourse extra extreme, thereby focusing on the demand aspect of the intercourse trafficking commerce. It additionally requires these convicted to endure human trafficking training, based on the Meigs Independent Press.

“Individuals who visitors different people are doing it for a extremely easy cause — cash,” Yost mentioned in the course of the information convention. “And if there’s no market, if there aren’t any patrons, there will likely be no trafficking.”

Yost acknowledged that the purpose of utterly eradicating the demand for bought intercourse in Ohio “might be a bit little bit of a tall order.”

“However decreasing the demand implies that we scale back the variety of people who find themselves victimized by human trafficking,” he mentioned.

Amongst these busted in Ohio over the previous week was Democratic Councilman Mark Jessie of Elyria, a metropolis about 20 miles southwest of Cleveland. In response to WKYC-TV, he faces a misdemeanor for the cost of soliciting prostitution. Although the cost gained’t get him faraway from the town council, he’s up for re-election subsequent month.

Elyria metropolis councilman Mark Jessie, now charged in an enormous statewide prostitution sting, a no-show at tonight’s council assembly. Mayor expressed concern over group belief in officers, council prez mentioned the group doesn’t condone such actions however desires to let all of it play out. pic.twitter.com/xl4khD12AJ

— Jim Nelson (@JimNelsonTV) October 4, 2021

One other “John” was Randal Frazier, a music trainer at St. Matthew Catholic College in Gahanna. The college terminated Frazier’s employment on Sept. 27, WBNS-TV reported.

Firefighter Andrew Bartnikowski, from the Columbus Division of Hearth, was charged with “counts of participating in prostitution,” based on the outlet. After he responded to an internet commercial to pay for intercourse and despatched a number of textual content messages and calls, undercover police posing as prostitutes nabbed him.

Throughout his information convention, Yost instructed of a pilot, making a wage of $200,000, who police caught. He was “not solely buying intercourse; he haggled. He obtained the worth down to fifteen bucks,” Yost mentioned.

Aside from the 161 who had been arrested for making an attempt to purchase intercourse, 50 people — each women and men — providing to promote intercourse had been additionally arrested, based on Yost’s information launch. Moreover, regulation enforcement interviewed 51 potential human trafficking victims, who had been supplied well being care and social providers.

“It’s essential to do not forget that in each considered one of these conditions, there’s a survivor, a sufferer, who must be not revictimized however aided, supported and helped,” Yost mentioned.

The legal professional common acknowledged that merely making arrests isn’t the reply. “We can not arrest our means out of human trafficking,” he mentioned.

Additionally on the information convention was Mandie Knight, a human trafficking survivor, who expressed gratitude for the position that law enforcement performed in her journey out of the life-style. Knight is now a spouse and mom, a forensic criminology pupil and a useful resource supervisor for Freedom a la Cart, a catering enterprise that employs human trafficking survivors, based on The Columbus Dispatch.

“Had I not been arrested, had I not gone to jail and had I not suffered some penalties for my actions and the position that I performed within the selections I used to be making, I wouldn’t be right here as we speak, and I wouldn’t be as profitable in life,” she mentioned.

The U.S. Marshals additionally carried out a simultaneous operation, recovering 10 lacking kids, based on Yost’s information launch.

Operation Ohio Is aware of was Ohio’s third intercourse trafficking sting over the previous 12 months: Operation 614 in April resulted in 93 arrests with 53 victims helped, and Operation Autumn Hope” in October 2020 ended with 157 arrests, 109 victims helped and 45 lacking kids discovered.