Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Monday that 161 people have been arrested and 51 potential human trafficking victims have been identified during a statewide anti-human trafficking operation.
Yost says that nearly 100 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies partnered with non-governmental and nonprofit organizations for Operation Ohio Knows.
Coordinated with Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission (OOCIC), Yost says the operation took place from Sept. 24-Oct. 1.
“People who traffic other humans are doing it for a really simple reason — money. And if there’s no demand, then there will be no market,” Yost said Monday morning during a press conference at the Ohio Statehouse, where he was joined by leaders of law enforcement agencies and social service organizations. “Reducing the demand means we reduce the number of people who are victimized by human trafficking. We will not rest until no one in Ohio buys or sells human beings.”
The operation included 161 arrests of people who attempted to buy sex, including three who wanted to buy sex from a minor. Some individuals were charged with drug and or firearm possession, most were charged with engaging in prostitution.
Among those arrested were a teacher, a professor, a firefighter, a pilot, municipal employees and a city councilman, according to Yost.
Fifty sex workers were also arrested.
Yost says law enforcement officers interviewed 51 potential human trafficking victims; he says they were provided services from healthcare and social services organizations.
The attorney general says a simultaneous operation carried out by the U.S. Marshals Service recovered 10 missing children.
“The most important work the FBI does is protecting the most vulnerable in our society. Our goal through these efforts is to work with our partners across Ohio to help recover victims and arrest those responsible for their exploitation,” says FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge J. William Rivers.
A list of all participating organizations can be found here.
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This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 12, 2021.
