CLEVELAND – Authorities say 49 people were arrested during a crackdown on human traffickers and sex predators during the days around baseball’s All-Star Game in Cleveland.
Attorney General Dave Yost and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley announced the results of the initiatives, dubbed “Operation Homerun” and “Operation Triple Play,” on Thursday, two days after the All-Star events wrapped up Tuesday night with the game itself.
The concurrent Human Trafficking Task Force operations targeted people authorities say are helping fund human trafficking by buying sex.
“Men who buy sex may think they are a party to a victimless crime. They couldn’t be more wrong, the women advertised for paid sexual services are often trafficked through commercial sex,” said task force director Mark Rapp.
Operation Homerun resulted in 21 arrests for soliciting prostitution while Triple Play netted 28 people who face charges that they were seeking sexual activity with individuals they believed were minor children. Those suspects could face felony charges of attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, importuning, possession of criminal tools and attempting corruption with drugs, Yost and O’Malley announced.
A range of state, local and federal law enforcement agencies participated in the operations.