AG Candidate Dettelbach Proposes Strengthening Human Trafficking Penalties, Laws

Touting his record as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, Democratic Attorney General candidate Steve Dettelbach introduced a plan today to strengthen human trafficking laws in Ohio.

The proposal includes tougher penalties for businesses and officials who profit from sex trafficking, as well as a ban on those who solicit sex from children during high profile events like conventions.

“Ohioans and people nationally, we need to do better at not being nosy neighbors, but being better neighbors,” said Dettelbach.

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, Ohio ranks 4 ^th in the number of human trafficking cases by state.

Dettelbach’s 9-point plan also calls for a stronger law to prohibit sex trafficking of 16- and 17-year olds.

“The proposals I’m putting forward show that we just haven’t done everything we can do, and we haven’t done enough,” said Dettelbach. “We still do have a lot of this crime going undetected.”

A spokesman for Dave Yost says the Republican attorney general candidate drafted sections of Senate Bill 4 which allows victims of human trafficking to expunge parts of their criminal record.

Governor Kasich signed the bill last month.