CLEVELAND — Authorities arrested eight individuals during a human trafficking sting in Cleveland that took place over NBA All-Star weekend, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Monday. 

Operation Fouled Out, led by the Cuyahoga Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, identified 15 individuals who were selling sex, but only eight of them were arrested. 

“This operation’s mission was two-fold: to arrest johns soliciting sex and to proactively encounter potential victims,” Yost said. “Our task reinforced both the consequences for buying sex and the pathways available for victims to find a way out.”

Yost's office didn't disclose any details about the other seven people interviewed by authorities who weren't arrested.

Police arrested the following individuals: 

  • Brian Barlock, 45, of Columbia Station
  • Bryan Fathauer, 51, of Berea
  • Benny Gonzalez, 25, of Lorain
  • George Keaton, 43, of Broadview Heights
  • David O’Boyle, 49, of Brookpark
  • Dana Parnell, 48, of Mayfield Heights
  • Brandon Ruyten, 49, of Rootstown
  • Michael James Smith, 48, of Cuyahoga Falls

“We are proud to showcase our city to the nation and world on this All-Star weekend, but we want to be clear that sexual violence and human trafficking have no place here,” said Sondra Miller, president and CEO of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center. “We applaud the agencies that work collaboratively to hold sex offenders accountable today and every day.”

Officials provided resources to potential victims of human trafficking, offered by health care and social services organizations, including the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center and Canopy Child Advocacy Center. 

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