AG Yost Highlights 2025 Human Trafficking Wins

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Reducing the demand for human trafficking remained a top priority for Attorney General Dave Yost in 2025, as evidenced by task force successes and changed lives.

“Our message is simple: Don’t buy sex in Ohio,” said AG Yost. “Every time we arrest a trafficker, raid an illicit massage parlor or free a victim from a tormentor, we move closer to the day when no human is bought or sold in our state.”

Task forces established under the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission led the office’s demand-reduction efforts. Composed of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies – often working together with victim service providers – the task forces arrest those who seek to buy sex, disrupt illicit massage parlors and conduct long-term investigations to prosecute traffickers.

The task forces’ efforts were prominently on display during Operation Next Door – a statewide human trafficking sting conducted by more than 100 law enforcement agencies. The operation resulted in 32 felony arrests and the arrest of 103 men allegedly seeking to buy sex. During the weeklong operation, law enforcement officers executed nine search warrants at suspected massage parlors and offered services to 67 survivors.

During 2025, task force operations led to numerous other arrests and indictments:  

• In February, Deondre Inkton pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges, including trafficking in persons, promoting prostitution, sexual battery, money laundering and possessing criminal tools. He was sentenced to 30 to 37½ years in prison. The Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case.
• In March, the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force apprehended two Texas men suspected of human trafficking who traveled to the Columbus area with four victims, including a juvenile. The pair were extradited to Texas to face charges of trafficking a person and compelling prostitution of a minor.
• In May, eight suspects associated with two illicit massage parlors – the Tiger Spa and Sunny Spa – were charged with 83 felonies following an investigation by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force. The criminal proceedings are ongoing.
• In June, two members of a violent human trafficking ring were sentenced to life in prison, following an investigation by the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force. James Antwan Dukes-Johnson and Michael Anthony Davis were convicted of numerous felony charges, including aggravated murder, trafficking in persons, compelling and promoting prostitution, and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. Four co-defendants also pleaded guilty in the case.
• In July, a Southeastern Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force investigation led to the indictment of a Monroe County man on rape charges involving a minor.
• In August, the Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force executed search warrants at four suspected massage parlors in North Olmsted, Strongsville and Lorain. Documents, financial records and cash were seized as evidence to further long-term investigations.
• In September, the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force secured the indictment of five members of a criminal organization accused of committing violent crimes and dealing narcotics as part of a human trafficking enterprise.
• In October, the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force arrested a physician from Erie, Pennsylvania, who traveled to Ohio allegedly to have sex with a minor. The task force also conducted a joint operation with the Steubenville Police Department that resulted in the arrest of eight men allegedly seeking to buy sex.
• In November, the Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force executed a search warrant at the Dragon Spa in Mentor-on-the-Lake as part of an ongoing investigation.
• In December, Columbus resident Rebecca Auborn pleaded guilty to four counts of murder after an investigation by the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Columbus Division of Police found that she was meeting “johns” for sex and intentionally overdosing the men to steal their belongings.

“Human trafficking can happen any day, anytime, anywhere,” Yost said. “But with the task force teams we have in place, we are moving the needle and helping Ohio – one day at a time.”

MEDIA CONTACT:
Steve Irwin: 614-728-5417

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