Our great state has long been stained with the seedy reputation as a hotbed for human trafficking. Indeed one can readily find Ohio ranked among the top five states in the nation for the number of cases of this insidious and destructive crime.

It’s easy to understand why. The crime involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act, and the Buckeye State rises as a lightning rod in the perfect storm of ingredients that enable trafficking to thrive. Those include significant substance abuse, economic instability and a robust network of interstate highways, truck stops and rest stops.

In response, however, state and Mahoning Valley authorities have fought back aggressively, and 2025 promises to be a banner year in that fight. In law enforcement crackdowns, legislative successes and awareness-building campaigns, the offensive has made great strides over the past nine months toward lessening the scope of such exploitation in our state and in our community.

All of those leading the charge in this war merit praise and support for their battles already won and for their passionate commitment to soldier on to quash this despicable criminal enterprise.

Prime among them has been the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, comprised of members of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, state Bureau of Criminal Investigation and numerous police departments in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. That partnership, which has reported a 300% increase in the number of sexual exploitation cases in the region in recent years, has made significant inroads in its many stings this year that have produced hundreds of charges against dozens of individuals on both the supply and demand sides of human trafficking.

Just last month, a Trumbull County grand jury indicted 10 individuals and a business entity on more than 60 charges in connection with a human trafficking and prostitution operation centered at a Warren spa. That came on top of 83 felony charges related to a human trafficking ring that operated in Warren and a successful undercover raid at a Canfield spa earlier this spring and summer.

Fortunately, we see no signs of any slowdown in the task force’s leading role in curbing sexploitation and its associated crimes such as money laundering and drug offenses.

Such visible momentum toward curbing human trafficking also has ballooned in the state’s General Assembly.

Just this June, a landmark bill in the struggle to tame the trafficking beast quietly sailed through the state House of Representatives with uncanny 93-0 bipartisan support. Rep. Nick Santucci, R-Niles, sponsored the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, which puts much sharper teeth into state statutes and criminal penalties for such horrific crimes.

Santucci’s bill will expand penalties for human trafficking from 10-15 years in prison to a minimum of 15 years. Notably, for the first time, it also provides potential life prison sentences for those who victimize individuals under the age of 18 or those who are developmentally disabled.

As Santucci aptly put it. “House Bill 47 delivers a direct message: If you are involved in human trafficking, you are not welcome in Ohio, and you will be held fully accountable.”

Santucci’s praiseworthy measure now sits in the state Senate, where lawmakers in the upper chamber should act responsibly and expeditiously by jettisoning it to the governor’s desk early this fall.

On the other side of the aisle, state Rep. Lauren McNally, D-Youngstown, earlier this year authored and introduced the Safe Stops Act: Preventing Human Trafficking on Our Roads. That legislation, House Bill 63, would require installation of security cameras at all rest areas by June 30, 2031, to more effectively monitor human trafficking and other road-based crimes.

It, too, merits speedy final passage and enactment.

In addition to progress made this year in legislation and in criminal justice, the FreeThree nonprofit in the Valley also has made strides on the supply side of trafficking. Its name derives from the three counties making up the Mahoning Valley and the group’s threefold mission in combating the crime: aiding its survivors through awareness, outreach and direct care. So far, the group has helped more than 1,000 victims of sexual exploitation.

That number drives home the pervasiveness of human trafficking in our backyards. As such FreeThree deserves community support through donations (at freethreeyo.com) to enable it to continue to provide support, training and wraparound services to survivors of sex trafficking. You can also show your support by attending its Community Awareness Event at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Harvesting Hope In Your Community center in Sebring or its fifth annual Walk for Freedom at 9 a.m. Oct. 18 in Youngstown.

Clearly, momentum keeps building fast and furiously in the Valley to rein in the perversity and long-term harms inflicted by human trafficking. We urge the burgeoning local and state armies on all fronts never to retreat from their vigilant fight.