The Ohio Attorney General’s Office announced that a criminal defense attorney who specializes in solicitation cases has been arrested for attempting to hire prostitutes.
“Lawyers should know better. You can’t be prostituted in Ohio,” Republican Ohio Congressman Dave Yost said in a press release last week.
Yost said a sting operation conducted by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force late last month uncovered two men who allegedly tried to buy sexual services, including a 72-year-old criminal defense attorney. He said that included Kenneth Martin.
According to reports, the lawyer responded to a prostitution ad posted on a website known for human trafficking and agreed to pay the suspected prostitute $180 for his services. She took the money to the location where Martin allegedly agreed to meet the prostitute, where she was met by police posing as sex workers.
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Attorney General Yost has made cracking down on human trafficking a top priority since taking office in 2019, according to his office. (Getty Images)
The attorney general’s office said Martin “lists prostitution and solicitation cases as his legal specialty” on his website.
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“The demand for human trafficking is sometimes driven by the most unexpected people,” Yost added in a press release last week.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost speaks at the Conservative Political Action Coalition Annual Conference on March 4, 2023 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Maryland. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
According to local media reports, Martin was charged with prostitution and possession of criminal instruments on February 22 and was issued a summons to appear in court.
Another man, identified as Koti Salman, 31, of Youngstown, was also charged during the sting operation. Salman also allegedly responded to what appeared to be an online prostitution ad and agreed to pay $140 for sexual services.
“Human trafficking is a multi-million dollar industry around the world that takes the lives of children, teens, men and women,” the attorney general’s office says on its website. (St. Petersburg)
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Since taking office in 2019, Yost has made cracking down on human trafficking a top priority, with a focus on ending human trafficking by arresting traffickers and “jones,” according to his office. Launched a buy and sell initiative.
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“Human trafficking is a multi-million dollar industry around the world that takes the lives of children, teens, men and women. Traffickers use violence, fraud, manipulation and/or coercion to “Traffickers force their victims to perform sex acts or sell their labor, but it is they who make or keep the profits,” the AG’s office says on its website How it fights human trafficking is described in detail.
