According to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, the recent arrests made by Ohio’s Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force highlight the “diverse backgrounds of those fueling human trafficking.” Among the arrestees are Patrick Geho, 55, of Washingtonville, Pennsylvania, and David Saunders, 47, of Canton, Pennsylvania.
On March 7, Patrick J. Geho was arrested and subsequently charged with engaging in prostitution and possession of criminal tools after responding to an undercover advertisement to purchase sexual services from a ‘female.’ He was charged in Columbiana County Municipal Court, Ohio, and was arraigned on March 10 after pleading not guilty to the two misdemeanor charges. He was released on a personal recognizance bond and will return to court on June 2. Geho identified himself as Washington County’s Director of Public Information and a former state Senate employee of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
On March 6, David L. Saunders was arrested and subsequently charged with solicitation, possession of criminal tools, driving under suspension, and possession of drug paraphernalia after he posed as a woman selling sexual services online. Saunders pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors in Columbiana County Municipal Court.
In a news release covering these arrests, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said, “Every day and in every area of our state, people from all walks of life are buying sex, and not from willing participants.” He emphasized, “the criminal behavior of coercion and extortion fuels the demand for human trafficking and continues the cycle. Without demand, traffickers don’t have clients and don’t need victims.”
We could not agree more. It is important to note that the sex trade is a market-based system where supply follows demand. Accordingly, we know that the most effective way to combat commercial sexual exploitation is by targeting the demand side of the sex trade. In other words, if there is no demand for commercial sexual exploitation, sex traffickers would have no individuals to exploit, and the presence of human trafficking would decrease. While attacking the demand for commercial sex is a step to prevent the issue of human trafficking, attacking the supply, or the people providing commercial sex, criminalizes victims and further stigmatizes this already vulnerable population.
While the CSE Institute applauds the Ohio Attorney General for targeting the demand that fuels the sex trade, we are disappointed that they have not been charged under Ohio’s human trafficking statute alongside the charge of engaging in prostitution and solicitation. Under Ohio law, a person is guilty of trafficking if they knowingly recruit, lure, entice, isolate, harbor, transport, provide, obtain, or maintain a person who is subject to sexual servitude through the means of force, fear, duress, or fraud. Therefore, we would encourage prosecutors to evaluate cases and charge human trafficking offenses in addition to other offenses charged, when appropriate.
The CSE Institute applauds the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, consisting of representatives from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Salem Police Department, East Palestine Police Department, Austintown Police Department, Portgage County Sheriff’s Office, Youngstown Police Department, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, and Ohio Investigative Unit, for charging Geho and Saunders.
The CSE Institute commends the Ohio District Attorney’s Office for prosecuting the demand that drives the sex trade. We celebrate the commitment of law enforcement agencies and individuals for their consistent efforts to combat the sexual exploitation of individuals through tactics that incapacitate the demand that fuels traffickers to remain in business.
The CSE Institute will continue to provide updates as they become available.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.