An umpire of the Major League Baseball (MLB) was among the14 men arrested in a human trafficking sting operation in Liberty Township, Ohio, two days ago.
Attorney General Dave Yost in Ohio reported that the operational hunt for the baseball umpire and 13 other men had help from different agencies to hasten the procedure.
Yost, together with Liberty Township Police Chief Toby Meloro, declared the identity of the baseball umpire as the 57-year-old Brian O'Nora, who had served the MLB for more than 20 years.
In a news release, Yost commended Meloro and the whole police department for the conduct of the search-and-arrest of the suspects.
"John stings deter those seeking to purchase sex - reducing the demand for human trafficking - and serve as a reminder that these crimes are more prevalent and closer to home than you may think," Yost mentioned during the brief meeting.
In a report via a Facebook post by Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, the 13 men were seen and picked on-the-spot after they arrived at a local hotel in Northeast Ohio, where they paid the money in exchange for sexual pleasure.
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In a police copy retrieved by USA Today, O'Nora responded to an online advertisement where he can pay to have sex with a female prostitute. The involved female prostitute was identified as Kandi, whom O'Nora called via the phone number posted on the Sunday Evening ad.
Authorities claimed that the baseball umpire mumbled some 'explicit and implicit' words, which implied that O'Nora wanted to hire Kandi as a sex slave.
O'Nora, who participated as a staff in the major league, went to a motel in Youngstown, Ohio, where he negotiated a meeting with Kandi. Moments later, he was arrested for a first-degree felony due to owning criminal tools and a third-degree felony due to solicitation charges. The penalty for the charges he is facing may scale from jail time probation to a corresponding fine.
The assigned task force said in a report that O'Nora's case is just one of the growing cases of sex trafficking in the city.
The authorities have also reminded that sex trafficking purveyors should stop the illegal activities, especially that it involves children in some circumstances.
The arrest of O'Nora was an effort spearheaded by Yost to boost the campaign in eradicating sex trafficking in Ohio.
Yost pushed the campaign "Operation Autumn Hope," which already recorded 179 arrests with 109 victims retrieved from the crime scene.
In August, 25 children aged 13 to 18 have been rescued from sex trafficking 21 days after Ohio "Operation Safety Net" was formed.
The umpire first started his MLB journey in 1999. He has appeared in several playoff series, three All-Star games, the American League Championship Series in 2008, and the 2012 World Series, where San Francisco Giants swept Detroit Tigers in a 4-0 win.
In 2013, O'Nora was hit by a pitch on his neck. He was hurt after the incident but still managed to call "ball four" in a match between Red Sox and Yankees.
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