161 arrested in statewide anti-human trafficking operation

COLUMBUS – Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Monday that 161 people were arrested, 51 potential human trafficking victims were helped, and ten missing children were found in a statewide anti-human trafficking operation.

Nearly 100 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies partnered with non-governmental and nonprofit organizations for Operation Ohio Knows, which took place from September 24 to October 1.

161 individuals were arrested for seeking to buy sex. Three of those individuals sought to buy sex from minors. Most of the induvial arrested were charged with engaging in prostitution, a first-degree misdemeanor. Among those arrested for seeking to buy sex were a teacher, a professor, a firefighter, a pilot, municipal employees, and a city councilman. 

50 individuals offering to sell sex were also arrested.

Law enforcement officers interviewed 51 potential human trafficking victims. They were provided services from health care and social services organizations.

A simultaneous operation carried out by the U.S. Marshals Service recovered 10 missing children.

“We will not rest until no one in Ohio buys or sells human beings,” Yost said at a press conference Monday.