Ashland is a city of approximately 20,000 residents, located in north-central Ohio’s Ashland County, near Mansfield. Consumer level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking, and has therefore been targeted by local law enforcement agencies as a strategy for prevention and response.

In their efforts to deter sex buyers and reduce the size and scope of the community’s sex trade, local law enforcement have conducted at least one reverse sting. In May 2015, a collaborative task force led by the METRICH Enforcement Unit and including officers with the Ashland and Mansfield Police Departments placed decoy advertisements suggesting prostitution, and arrested 15 sex buyers who responded to the listings. A web sting targeting women engaged in prostitution was conducted in parallel in nearby Mansfield, resulting in the arrests of 5 prostituted persons. When asked about the investigation, law enforcement representatives reported they had fielded 144 emails and 153 text messages from individuals interesting in purchasing sex during the sting. Officers investigated 15 men who responded to the advertisement, finding that 75% of that group were city or county residents or currently working in the county and 25% were from surrounding counties. Ashland Police Chief Dave Marcelli expressed concern at the high volume of responses to the ads, saying:

“We had no idea we’d have 300 contacts, and the behavior is not just prostitution but associated crimes. Two guys showed up with guns, then there’s the drug issues and human trafficking concerns.”

In a comment to the Ashland Times-Gazette, a representative with the Ashland Police added:

“If the public is made aware of it, we can hopefully deter future crimes…This won’t be the last time we do this. This isn’t acceptable in the city limits of Ashland, or anywhere, and we’re not going to stand by and let it happen.”

The sex buyers’ names, ages, and addresses were released to the press. Sentences for the 15 men arrested in the May prostitution sweep in Ashland County included jail time, suspension of driver’s licenses, community service, and probation. For example, one man appeared in Ashland County Municipal Court for a scheduled bench trial, but before the trial could begin, his attorney asked to change the plea to guilty to his two charges, which were soliciting sexual acts for hire and possessing criminal tools (both misdemeanors). After accepting the guilty pleas, the court sentenced the defendant to 60 days in jail for the soliciting count and suspended 20 days, resulting in serving 40 days in Ashland County Jail. The court also suspended his driver’s license for six months, fined him $650 between the two charges, placed him on one year of probation, and ordered him to complete 100 hours of community work service. Other sentences included periods of 30 to 60 days in jail (suspended), one year of probation, 200 hours of community services and fines between $250 and $500:

In April 2019, the Ohio Supreme Court issued a one-year suspension, with six months stayed, to an Ashland attorney for soliciting prostitution and having a sexual relationship with a client, which violates the rules governing the conduct of Ohio attorneys. The man had been caught in a police sting for soliciting prostitution in May 2015 after he responded to a Craigslist ad. The man maintained his innocence during disciplinary hearings and said he pleaded guilty to the criminal solicitation charge to avoid negative publicity, but the court’s opinion stated that the trial court record “contained strong evidence of actual guilt.” The Board of Professional Conduct found that he “accepted little or no responsibility for his criminal conduct” and “the only remorse he expressed was for his own embarrassment and public humiliation.”