45 Missing Children Rescued In Anti-Human Trafficking Operation

COLUMBUS, OHIO – Forty-five missing children from around Ohio, including a 15-year-old Cleveland girl, are among those who have been rescued as part of an anti-human trafficking sting, state law enforcement officials announced on Monday.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a news conference that 179 people have been arrested as part of the statewide, multi-agency operation called “Autumn Hope”, which authorities say is the state’s largest trafficking operation. The sting, which involved state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies, made the arrests during October and Yost said that the sting has resulted in the rescue of 109 human trafficking survivors, including the Cleveland girl who was considered to be at-risk.

“The difference between simple prostitution and human trafficking is the difference between two and three. Prostitution is simply a John and usually a woman, the person who is selling sex,” Yost said in a news conference Monday morning. “Human trafficking involves a third person, who is typically taking a cut of the money. And that’s what elevates the simple prostitution into the evil of modern day slavery.”

Of the 179 people arrested as part of the sting, 157 men in Cuyahoga, Lucas and Franklin counties were arrested on solicitation charges and other crimes while another 22 men in two counties were charged with felony charges having to do with attempting to have sex with a minor. Most of the 109 human trafficking survivors are women and are mostly of adult age. More than 50 law enforcement agencies and other social services groups were involved in the operation, Yost announced Monday.

The case of the missing Cleveland girl is believed to be connected to a person in Columbus, who is suspected of human trafficking. According to a news release issued by Yost’s office Monday, the 109 victims who were rescued have been referred to social services agencies following an investigation led by the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Trask Force, Columbus PACT Unit and the Cuyahoga County Human Trafficking Task Force.

“These are the same personnel who hunt down violent fugitives every day,” Peter C. Tobin, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio said in the news release. “I’m incredibly proud of them and pleased that they were able to apply those same skills to finding missing children. I know Operation Autumn Hope has made a difference in a lot of young lives.”