On the Job 

According to the annual Ohio Attorney General’s Office Human Trafficking Report released earlier this year, law enforcement officers are conducting more human trafficking investigations, and identifying more potential traffickers and trafficking victims, in Ohio than have ever been reported before.

Law enforcement agencies across the state conducted 85 human trafficking investiga­tions which led to 98 arrests. Law enforcement also reported identifying 181 potential hu­man trafficking victims, 113 suspected traffickers, and 68 suspected buyers. In addition, the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force – part of the Ohio Attorney General’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commis­sion – reported that 17 potential victims were rescued and 67 potential victims were referred to social services.

That work continued in January when agents from the Attorney General’s Office and the task force, as well as local police, raided several mas­sage parlors in northwest Franklin County and southern Delaware County. A three-month inves­tigation led to two arrests and the rescue of 18 women who were thought to have been forced to live in the parlors, sleep on massage tables, and kept captive against their will.

A total of 4,975 Ohio peace officers completed human trafficking training provided by the Attorney General’s Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy in 2014.

The report also outlines how the Ohio Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Commission helped strengthen protections for victims, create stiffer penalties for traffickers, and educate Ohioans on human trafficking and how it can be prevented. In addition to working to pass the End Demand Act, which was signed into law in June 2014, the com­mission facilitated the sharing of information about human trafficking investigations between law enforcement jurisdictions. The commission also worked to reduce the demand for forced labor and compelled commercial sexual activity in Ohio and to increase 24-hour emergency response coverage.

“Over the past year, we have worked to assist victims of human trafficking and to craft and pass legislation providing better protections to minor-age victims and stronger penalties for those who traffic children,” Attorney General DeWine said. “Nothing is more important than protecting Ohio’s children and families from harm, and the criminals who enslave and abuse vulnerable Ohioans must be held accountable.”