Willoughby, OH
Categories:
Tactics Used |
|
---|---|
Auto Seizure | ✓ |
Buyer Arrests | ✓ |
Cameras | ✓ |
Community Service | ✓ |
Employment Loss | ✓ |
Identity Disclosure | ✓ |
IT Based Tactics | ✓ |
John School | ✓ |
Letters | ✓ |
License Suspension | ✓ |
Neighborhood Action | ✓ |
Public Education | ✓ |
Reverse Stings | ✓ |
SOAP Orders | ✓ |
Web Stings | ✓ |
Willoughby is a city in Lake County, located in northern Ohio near Cleveland, and has a population of approximately 24,000 residents. Prostitution is a documented problem in the city and has been linked to other crimes. In one case, a man fleeing a prostitution sting assaulted an officer and rammed a police vehicle with his own.
In February 2013, Willoughby Police Department officers targeted sex buyers for arrest by conducting a web-based reverse sting. Officers placed an online ad featuring a 20-year-old woman offering prostitution and arrested 12 men who responded and appeared at a hotel to buy sex. The men were between 26 and 64 years of age and were from cities like Beachwood, Rocky River, North Royalton, Hudson, and Mentor, to name a few. All were charged with misdemeanor solicitation. The names, ages, and mugshots of the men arrested were publicly released in the weeks following the operation.
Key Partners
- Willoughby Police Department
Key Sources
Web-Based Reverse Stings:
- “Willoughby: Prostitution Sting Leads to 12 Arrests,” NBC/WKYC-TV 3, February 25 2013.
- “Willoughby Prostitution Sting Nets 12 Men, Including North High School Teacher, Answering Online Ad,” Willoughby News-Herald, February 25 2013.
- “12 Men Arrested in Prostitution Sting Have Pleaded Not Guilty,” Willoughby News-Herald, March 7 2013.
- “Police: Prostitution in Western Lake County Remains a Problem, But Ads Have Slowed,” Willoughby News-Herald, March 25 2013.
- https://www.cleveland19.com/willoughby-arrests-local-prostitution-ring (2016)
- https://www.news-herald.com/three-men-arrested-in-undercover-prostitution-sting-in-willoughby (2016)
Identity Disclosure:
Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:
- “Police: Man Faces Sex Charges in Willoughby Motel Arrest,” NBC/WKYC-TV 3, June 14 2011.
- https://www.yahoo.com/lake-county-group-strives-prevent (2022)
- https://www.wkyc.com/human-trafficking/following-daughter-death-lake-county-mother-seeks-end-human-trafficking (2022)
Background on Prostitution in the Area:
- “Willoughby Police Arrest Cleveland Woman on Prostitution Charge,” Willoughby News-Herald, January 25 2013.
- “Fairport Harbor Woman Charged with Solicitation in Willoughby,” Willoughby News-Herald, February 17 2014.
- “Two Charged in Prostitution Sting in Willoughby,” Willoughby News-Herald, November 11 2014.
Documented Violence Against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area:
State | Ohio |
Type | City |
Population | 23898 |
Location |
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