Ohio: 1-3rd in sex trade before age 18

Ohio's attorney general says the state has developed a national reputation as a crossroads for the sex trade. Mike DeWine, attorney general of Ohio, said the report written by Professor Celia Williamson of the University of Toledo provides the state with more insight into who is more likely to get trafficked. A few years ago, a federal sting in Harrisburg, Pa., found that 77 of 177 females involved in a sex-trafficking operation were from the Toledo area,The Community Press & Recorder in Cincinnati reported. The researchers spoke with victims primarily in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo. They found more than one-third of the sample said they were trafficked for sex before the age of 18 and some said they were trafficked before age 12. A majority of female victims said they were recruited by other women, who was also involved in the sex trade or who acted like a friend, the report said The study also identified several similar early indicators considered high-risk factors for Ohio youth being lured into the sex trade including: -- 63 percent reported they ran away from home at least once. -- 59 percent reported they had friends who were involved in selling themselves. -- 47 percent reported being raped more than a year before they were trafficked. -- 44 percent reported being victims of abuse. "The number of victims who were runaways before their involvement with sex trafficking is very telling," DeWine said said in a statement. In Cincinnati, the people who purchased sex most often were drug dealers, followed closely by factory workers, construction workers and truckers, the Press & Recorder said.