“This is important because without money there is no human trafficking,” Yost said. “Without money the marketplace collapses and the incentive for human trafficking goes away.”
Law enforcement officers also referred 73 human trafficking survivors to healthcare and social service organizations for support.
At least six johns were arrested with ties to the Miami Valley.
It is not clear if formal charges have been filed. The Dayton Daily News typically does not identify uncharged suspects. Three men were also arrested on preliminary importuning charges in Greene County. They have not been formally charged as of Monday.
No one arrested in the week-long operation is being charged with human trafficking. Yost noted human trafficking comparable to high-end criminal offenses such as racketeering or bulk weight narcotic sales.
“The stings don’t produce typically those high-end arrests,” he said. “What they do is produce the cases that end up producing the leads that lead to those.”
The stings tend to focus on the street and the retail aspect of prostitution.
“We need to work up the food chain and rest assured we will,” Yost said.
The attorney general also expressed concerns about stories he’s heard of prosecutors accepting plea deals or reduce charges for those accused of paying for sex.
“I’m calling on the prosecutors in this great state to hold the line,” he said. “This doesn’t mean that everybody needs to get locked up or get locked up for a long time, but there has to be consequences. If we’re going to stop human trafficking there have to be sanctions for the people that are funding this with their money.”
He added there needs to be education as well, but there needs to be penalties to deter this behavior in the future.
Hundreds of law enforcement agencies participated in the operation, including the Montgomery County Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is made up of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Butler Twp. Police Department, Miami Twp. Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations and Oakwood Police Department.
On Sept. 30 the state announced a new human trafficking hotline to help connect law enforcement with tips from the public. The hotline, 844-END-OHHT (844-363-6448), is a non-emergency number operated 24/7 by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
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