Cleveland, OH
FBI Announces Results of Nationwide Sex Trafficking Operation | Federal Bureau of Investigation
CLEVELAND, OH—The FBI, working with its state and native companions throughout two weeks in August, recognized and situated 84 minor victims of kid intercourse trafficking and youngster sexual exploitation offenses and situated 37 actively lacking youngsters throughout a nationwide enforcement marketing campaign, dubbed “Operation Cross Nation.” The FBI-led nationwide initiative targeted on figuring out and finding victims of intercourse trafficking and investigating and arresting people and felony enterprises concerned in each youngster intercourse trafficking and human trafficking.
Along with the identification and site of adolescent victims, the FBI and its companions situated 141 grownup victims of human trafficking. Brokers and investigators additionally recognized or arrested 85 suspects with youngster sexual exploitation and human trafficking offenses. These suspects recognized might be topic to further investigation for potential fees. The typical age of victims situated throughout this 12 months’s Operation Cross Nation was 15.5, whereas the youngest sufferer found was 11 years outdated.
Domestically, FBI brokers from the Cleveland Division and Toledo and Lima Resident Companies labored collectively with legislation enforcement companions from BCI, Toledo Police Division, Lima Police Division, and the Allen County Sheriff’s Workplace through the operations that ran on August 4th and fifth, 2022. The operation resulted in 15 misdemeanor arrests for solicitation, and 4 felony arrests for obstruction, drug, and paraphernalia possession. Notably, the operation produced vital intelligence on native intercourse trafficking topics and Drug Trafficking Organizations.
“The Justice Division is dedicated to doing all the things in our energy to fight the insidious crimes of human trafficking that devastate survivors and their households,” mentioned Lawyer Basic Merrick B. Garland. “I’m grateful to the devoted professionals of the FBI and our legislation enforcement companions throughout the nation for his or her tireless work to rescue trafficking survivors, together with exploited youngsters, to research and prosecute the perpetrators of trafficking crimes, and to offer the providers and assist that survivors want and deserve.”
“Human trafficking is among the many most heinous crimes the FBI encounters,” mentioned FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Sadly, such crimes—towards each adults and kids—are much more widespread than most individuals understand. As we did on this operation, the FBI and our companions will proceed to search out and arrest traffickers, establish, and assist victims, and lift consciousness of the exploitation of our most susceptible populations.”
As a part of Operation Cross Nation XII, FBI particular brokers, intelligence analysts, sufferer specialists, and youngster adolescent forensic Interviewers working along with over 200 state, native, and federal companions and the Nationwide Middle for Lacking and Exploited Kids (NCMEC) carried out 391 operations over the two-week interval.
“The success of Operation Cross County reinforces what NCMEC sees each day. Kids are being purchased and bought for intercourse in communities throughout the nation by traffickers, gangs, and even members of the family,” mentioned Michelle DeLaune, President and CEO Nationwide Middle for Lacking & Exploited Kids “We’re proud to assist the FBI’s efforts to prioritize the security of kids. This nationwide operation highlights the necessity for all youngster serving professionals to proceed to deal with the wellbeing of kids and youth to forestall them from being focused within the first place.”
“Figuring out intercourse trafficking networks and subsequently discovering, apprehending, and investigating criminals is a precedence of the FBI,” mentioned Gregory Nelsen, particular agent in control of the Cleveland Subject Workplace. “We’re dedicated to defending the American public, notably youngsters and adolescents, and that work begins in our personal yard. Northern Ohio is just not exempt from exploitation and trafficking. With interstates becoming a member of our borders, the propensity and capability to conduct these atrocious crimes are immense. We are going to proceed to work relentlessly with our federal, state, and native companions to thwart felony habits and defend our communities.”
Sufferer specialists present a “bridge” for victims who’re cautious of the system, assist the sufferer set up optimistic relationships with legislation enforcement, and make sure the human trafficking sufferer inhabitants receives any acceptable assets accessible to them. Sufferer specialists additionally present providers primarily based on the person wants of human trafficking victims, to incorporate disaster intervention, emergency meals and clothes, transportation to obtain emergency providers, and finding shelter or housing. The duty forces within the current operation included federal, state, native and tribal companions, with efforts in each state and even a number of U.S. territories.
Sources:
Editor’s notice: b-roll from Operation Cross Nation XII operations may be discovered/downloaded right here: Operation Cross Nation 2022 B-Roll — FBI
Tickets will soon be available for the final SmackDown before WWE SummerSlam 2024!
Returning to Cleveland, Ohio for the first time since 1996, the 37th iteration of SummerSlam will be broadcast live on August 3rd from the Cleveland Browns Stadium. Tickets for the blockbuster event went on sale on May 9th, and WWE have now announced plans for the edition of SmackDown the previous night.
When Do Tickets Go On Sale For The August 2nd Edition Of SmackDown In Cleveland, OH?
WWE issued the following press release in regards to the go-home SmackDown, also taking place in Cleveland.
TICKETS FOR FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN® ON AUGUST 2
IN CLEVELAND ON SALE FRIDAY, JUNE 7SmackDown to Emanate from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Ahead of SummerSlam on Saturday, August 3
Tickets Available Via SeatGeek Starting Friday, June 7 at 10 a.m. ET
STAMFORD, Conn., May 31, 2024 – WWE®, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), today announced that tickets for Friday Night SmackDown on August 2 from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland will go on sale starting Friday, June 7 at 10 a.m. ET as part of SummerSlam Weekend. Tickets will be available via SeatGeek.com.
SummerSlam takes place Saturday, August 3 from Cleveland Browns Stadium, marking the first time since August of 1996 that the premium live event will be held in Cleveland.
Additionally, SummerSlam Priority Pass ticket packages are now available from On Location, offering fans the chance to be ringside for every exhilarating moment including premium seating, pre-show hospitality with WWE Superstar appearances, ringside photo opportunities and more. To learn more, please visit https://onlocationexp.com/summerslam.
SummerSlam streams live in the U.S. exclusively on Peacock beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
WWE is already looking ahead to SummerSlam in 2026, when the event will take place over two nights for the first time ever.
COLUMBUS, Ohio—A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers are again pushing one of their pet issues: getting the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles to issue a “Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland” license plate.
House Bill 586, introduced earlier this month, would allow Ohio motorists to pay an extra $25 to get one of the plates. Of that extra $25, $15 would go to the Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland, a Northeast Ohio nonprofit that traps and neuters feral cats to control their population in the area, as well as helps cat owners pay for food, water, and emergency veterinary care. The other $10 would pay for BMV costs.
Ohio already offers dozens of “specialty license plates,” with logos representing sports franchises, nonprofit organizations, the military, colleges and universities, and others.
Though the Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland has an offbeat name, the work they do to help cats in Northeast Ohio is no joke, said state Rep. Phil Robinson, a Solon Democrat co-sponsoring the bill, in an interview.
Robinson first introduced a license plate bill to help the group last session, after one of his constituents – one of the group’s nearly 19,000 members – approached him with the idea.
“It seemed like a great cause, and they do some really great work,” he said.
It’s not yet clear how much money would be raised for the cat lovers group if his license plate bill passes, though Robinson said it could be a fair amount of scratch. Ohio law requires that before a new organizational license plate is issued, at least 150 people have to sign a petition pledging to purchase one of the new plates; issuing 150 plates would provide a total of $2,250 for the Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland.
“They believe it’s something that could catch on pretty quickly, and every dollar would go to a great cause to help those in need,” Robinson said of the group’s leaders.
Robinson first introduced the Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland license plate bill in 2021, but it failed to pass. This time around, he said, he’s more optimistic the measure will be approved – if not as a standalone bill, then as one of a number of proposed license-plate ideas that are bunched together in a single bill and passed as a group, as lawmakers did with several other proposed license plates toward the end of last session.
Besides Robinson, HB586′s co-sponsors include Republican state Rep. Jim Hoops of Henry County and Democratic state Reps. Sean Brennan of Parma, Darnell Brewer of Cleveland, and Michele Grim of Toledo.
Jeremy Pelzer covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
After 39 years on the job, Jim Donovan, WKYC 3News Cleveland sports anchor, will retire next month.
The station announced the news Thursday on X. They also shared that Donovan’s final broadcast will be June 10.
Jim Donovan, longtime sports and news anchor at WKYC, to retire in June https://t.co/fyKt4usj3R
— WKYC 3News (@wkyc) May 30, 2024
“Jimmy has had one of the most illustrious careers of any local broadcaster across the country,” WKYC president and general manager Micki Byrnes said, per Dave DeNatale, WKYC.com. “It’s hard to believe he’s really stepping down, but we can all agree he’s accomplished just about every milestone that a sports and news anchor would wish for.”
Donovan, who has been the radio play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Browns since their return to the NFL in 1999, will remain in that role.
In 2023, Donovan announced a leave of absence from the station and the Browns after a leukemia remission. He completed his final radiation treatment at the end of February 2024.
“It’s been an amazing run, and I am so thankful for the support from our viewers, Browns fans, my colleagues and all who have been a part of the journey. I’m looking forward to spending more time with Cheryl and my daughter, Meghan, I haven’t called a Browns Super Bowl win yet, but I’ll continue to call the games this fall so there’s always hope,” Brown said in a statement released by WKYC.
Donovan also spent time as the play-by-play voice of the then-Cleveland Indians from 2006-08 and was part of the NFL on NBC crew from 1987-97. Additionally, he did swimming play-by-play for the 1992 and 1996 Olympics.
[WKYC 3News]
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