Buckeye Reporter

Ohio Attorney General's Office-led law enforcement task forces, established under the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, have recently achieved significant progress in combatting human trafficking and sexual predators within the state, according to a press release. These task forces, involving local, state and federal agencies, have successfully closed notable cases, such as the Summit Regional Human Trafficking Task Force's operation on July 11, where nine men were arrested for buying sex, and the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force's sentencing of Joseph Garchar on July 12 for sexually exploiting a minor.

Additionally, the Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force concluded a long-term investigation in June, resulting in convictions and sentences for human traffickers in Warrensville Heights and Maple Heights.

“A john buying sex has no idea if the other party is a willing participant, a victim of human trafficking – or one of our task force agents,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said. “Our task forces are enforcing the law and making sure that those seeking to buy sex face swift charges.”

"Law enforcement task forces formed under the Ohio Attorney General’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission continue to advance the state’s fight against human traffickers and sexual predators, with three of these units reporting recent successes," the press release stated. "The comprehensive strategy employed by Yost’s office targets many facets of human trafficking, including demand reduction, which is a priority of the OOCIC. The commission facilitates the creation of cross-department task forces that often involve local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. The task forces work to arrest those seeking to purchase sex or solicit sex from minors, or who possess child pornography or other material that sexually exploits children."

Summit County Collaborative Against Human Trafficking's mission states on its website, "The mission of the [Summit County Collaborative Against Human Trafficking] is to increase our community’s knowledge on human trafficking and build a strong continuum of care for survivors to access trauma-informed services in Summit County. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, human trafficking is the second largest criminal industry in the world. Locally, Ohio is among the top states with the highest call volume to the National Human Trafficking Hotline."

According to a report by WHIOTV7, "Roshan Portel, 21 of Akron, and Scott Data, 58 of Norton, were charged with compelling prostitution after arranging to meet a '16-year-old girl' for sex. The '16-year-old girl' was law enforcement agents posing as an underaged minor. Six others were charged with engaging in prostitution: Stephen Nagy, 42 of Akron; Robert Cummings, 47 of Cuyahoga Falls; Brian Jambois, 51 of Canal Fulton; Reginald Reid, 64 of Medina; Stephen Moore, 52 of Quaker City and Todd Rohrer, 57 of Canal Fulton. In addition, Kenneth Brooks, 34 of Canton was charged with a parole violation."