(WKBN) — The undercover operations of the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force have resulted in over a dozen arrests already this year, Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene announced Thursday.
In a release from the Ohio Attorney General’s office, they state more than a dozen men seeking to buy sex in northeast Ohio were arrested in the early weeks of 2025. Arrestees range in age from 29 to 57 and include a former police officer, part-time firefighter, former nurse and current federal employee, Greene stated.
Also during the operations, the task force advanced several long-term investigations, executing a search warrant at a massage parlor and securing the indictments of a man possessing child pornography and others for promoting prostitution.
First News has covered several recent task force investigations, linked here:
- East Palestine man indicted on 17 child sex abuse material charges
- Man sentenced to prison for child sex abuse material
- Investigators raid Canfield massage parlor, arresting 1
In a recently closed case, Jonathan Collins was sentenced in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court to nine months in prison after pleading guilty to attempted compelling prostitution and attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Collins will be required to register as a Tier II sex offender every six months for the next 25 years.
A Lisbon man, Jon Nelder, was sentenced in January to 23.5 years in prison for 53 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor and one count of tampering with evidence. Court records show he is appealing the sentence.
“Every arrest is a win in the fight against human trafficking, but we’re far from finished,” Sheriff Greene said. “Our task force isn’t slowing down. The Mahoning Valley is off-limits to human trafficking.”
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