Ohio Human Trafficking Sting Leads to 160 Facing Sex Charges

A crackdown on human trafficking and the sex trade has led to the arrest of 160 people in Ohio, including a university's "director of excellence" and members of the United States Air Force.

Many of those arrested last week were buying sex and were not directly involved in human trafficking, but the operation was designed to cut down on trafficking of sex workers, according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.

The weeklong operation, named "Operation Buyer's Remorse" by Yost's office, led to the arrest of nearly 150 clients of sex workers. They were charged with engaging in prostitution, according to Yost's office. Two others were arrested for seeking sex with minors, six for promoting prostitution and others for illegally possessing narcotics and/or firearms, his office said.

In total, 160 people, ranging in age from 17 to 84, were arrested, including Michael Masterson, an administrator at the University of Dayton, according to Yost's office.

Yost identified Masterson as the director of excellence at the university.

"The University does not comment on individual personnel matters or ongoing investigations," University of Dayton officials said in a statement. "The University considers this a law enforcement issue and defers to their handling of it."

According to WHIO in Dayton, some students received an email saying that Masterson would no longer be teaching their class. Two sources told WHIO that he was teaching as recently as the day after his arrest.

Yost's office identified another man, Shawn Ryken of Dayton, as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force and another, Ramesh Karki, as an Indiana University professor. Others arrested were also in the education field, including a math teacher at an education center.

The Montgomery County Human Trafficking Task Force also arrested Jason Goins, of Washington, D.C. Goins was identified as an Air Force major. A Wright-Patterson Air Force Base spokesperson told WHIO that Rykken was stationed there. Goins was not.

Nearly 100 law enforcement agencies from across the state worked together from September 25-30 to "stem the demand that fuels human trafficking."

"The success of this operation is measured not only by the number of arrests but also by the resources offered to survivors of human trafficking and the intelligence gathered that will propel long-term investigations forward," Yost said in a statement.