COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, R-Ohio, announced Monday the arrests of more than 200 people trying offering to sell or buy sex, in some cases with children. The Attorney General called it “the largest human trafficking sting in state history.”

What You Need To Know

  • Operation Ohio Knows led to the arrests of 161 men trying to buy sex, three of the cases involved kids

  • Fifty men and women were arrested for offering to sell sex and 10 missing children were also found

  • The Attorney General called it “the largest human trafficking sting in state history”

"People who traffic other humans are doing it for a really simple reason, money," Yost said at a news conference in the Statehouse.

Yost said the details surrounding the statewide sting operation that took place last week included nearly 100 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Operation Ohio Knows, coordinated through the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, took place from Sept. 24 to Oct. 1 to address issues that fuel sex trafficking in Ohio. 

Yost said people should not jump to conclusions about who is involved in the situations and where it is happening.

"A professor, a city councilman,” said Yost. “This is not just something that happens down in the hood [and] in the city. It's in every county. It's in every town.”

Those arrested included a teacher, professor, firefighter, pilot, municipal employees and a city councilman.

Operation Ohio Knows led to the arrests of 161 men trying to buy sex, three of the cases involved kids. Fifty men and women were arrested for offering to sell sex and 10 missing children were also found.

"In every one of these situations, there is a survivor, a victim who needs to be not re-victimized but aided, supported and helped," Yost said.

Investigators said they talked with dozens of victims who are now getting the help they need. Mandie Knight, a wife, mother and human trafficking survivor, said she is grateful for the role police played in her journey.

“Had I not been arrested, had I not gone to jail, and had I not suffered some consequences for my actions in the role that I played and the decisions I was making, I wouldn’t be here today and I wouldn’t be as successful in life as I am today,” said Knight. 

Yost said while the operation was a success, he would like to see the state legislature do more to combat human trafficking, including passing a law to create a public “Johns Registry” for those trying to buy sex.​