Ohio Undercover Sting Catches 16 Suspected Sexual Predators

YOUNGSTOWN, OH — An undercover sting operation has caught 16 suspected predators, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced on Friday. He said the suspects are accused of targeting children for sexual exploitation.

"This trap will be laid time and time again until the message reverberates – don’t buy sex in Ohio," Yost said. "Task forces are a force multiplier and their success is evident in the number of criminals taken off the street."

The suspects come from throughout Northeast Ohio. Each individual was taken into custody over the past three days, Yost said. The investigation into the suspects was led by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force.

All of the suspects face felony charges of importuning, attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and possession of criminal tools. Yost said the suspects are:

• William Ragle, 25, Akron
• David Kent, 24, Cranberry Twp., Pa.
• Dennis Dabney II, 47, Salem
• Ronald Woods III, 23, Austintown
• Ommar Castro Diaz, 24, Cleveland
• Steven Sutton, 44, Prospect, Pa.
• Nicholas Sammartino, 20, Youngstown
• Andrew Wirth, 30, Ravenna
• Joel Kurz, 30, Boardman
• Grant Geib, 24, Orville
• Darrell Davis, 60, East Liverpool
• Thomas Yakemovic III, 30, West Middlesex, Pa.
• Timothy Leverknight, 53, Salem
• Brian Underwood, 33, Youngstown
• James McClalin III, 39, Hubbard
• Charles Stumpf, 23, Akron

"We will continue to do everything in our power to identify and apprehend these individuals before they come in contact with real children," said David Frattare, Commander of the ICAC. "Operations such as these should serve as a reminder that offenders will go to great lengths to exploit popular social media networks and mobile applications to gain access to children for their own sexual gratification."

This is the second undercover sting operation this year in the Youngstown area. A March 14 sting led to the arrest of eight men.