A Greek Orthodox priest, Columbus defense attorney and two Ohio teachers were among dozens of people arrested for trying to buy sex in a statewide sting.
Ohio law enforcement arrested 135 people and raided massage parlors during a weeklong operation, Attorney General Dave Yost announced Sept. 29. Most of them face charges for soliciting or engaging with prostitution, but 32 were arrested on felony charges − including seeking sex with a minor.
“Human trafficking is everywhere,” Yost said during a news conference. “It’s not a city-country kind of thing. It’s not a poor-rich kind of thing. It’s not an ethnic kind of thing. It’s your neighbors. It’s your co-workers. It’s the delivery guy. It is the people at the hotel for your business trip. It is not OK.”
The people facing charges include:
Officials emphasized that anyone can be found complicit in human trafficking − even clergy and others who hold trusted positions.
“That is a person that we’re supposed to go to, to seek comfort, to seek guidance and to seek assistance if these types of criminal activities are taking place,” Lorain County Sheriff Jack Hall said of the priest. “That trust was violated by that individual last week when he decided that he was going to solicit individuals for sex.”
Yost said law enforcement identified 67 potential survivors of human trafficking and tried to connect them with services. When possible, he said, his office aims to avoid criminal penalties for people who have been victimized.
“People are groomed,” Yost said. “They’re enticed into this. The people who traffic other humans look for folks that have some kind of vulnerability. They’ve already got trauma. The addiction and then the exploitation in the sex trade add trauma upon trauma.”
State government reporter Haley BeMiller can be reached at hbemiller@gannett.com or @haleybemiller on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Cleveland priest, Columbus attorney among 135 arrested in Ohio sex trafficking sting
Reporting by Haley BeMiller, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
