COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The family of a mother, father and baby boy killed in a fiery crash on Interstate 71 in Delaware County has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the semi driver accused of causing the wreck.

Lynnea and Luke Soposki and the couple’s 1-year-old baby were hit last month while they were sitting in construction traffic on I-71. The driver of the semi was identified as Modou Ngom.

The Soposki family filed the lawsuit today, alleging Ngom was negligent and that the crash could have been prevented.

Ngom is charged with aggravated homicide in the case.

Men in Ohio can legally import 17-year-old child brides from any country around the world, a legal form of sex trafficking.

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• Ohio legislators are not voting on a bipartisan bill that would ban marriage before the age of 18.

Chagrin Falls resident Stephanie Lowry was 16 years old and 16 weeks pregnant when she was forced to marry a 19-year-old man in Summit County in 2001.

Fraidy Reiss is founder and executive director of Unchained At Last.

Ohio legislators are refusing to vote on Senate Bill 341, bipartisan legislation that would ban child marriage and stop encouraging adult men to prey on teenage girls.

Somewhere, Jeffrey Epstein is applauding.

Dozens of survivors of child marriage, experts and advocates – authors of this column included – have testified in strong support of the bill, to make the marriage age 18, no exceptions. Not a single member of the public has testified in opposition.

Not even the pedophile lobby.

But legislators are shrugging their shoulders and turning their backs.

So the marriage age in Ohio remains 17, even while states across the United States – including Pennsylvania and every state east and north of it, going all the way to Maine – have banned all marriage before age 18.

More: Ohio allows child marriage. Some lawmakers are OK with that

Girls are the ones who are suffering the heartbreaking consequences of Ohio legislators’ intransigence.

Some 5,063 teens were entered into marriage in Ohio between 2000 and 2024, according to marriage certificate data from the state health department analyzed by Unchained At Last, a nonprofit that leads a national movement to end forced and child marriage.

About 90 percent were girls wed to adult men.

a legal way to sex traffic girls

The term “suffering” is not hyperbole.

Current marriage-age laws legalize and incentivize the trafficking of teens under the guise of marriage.

A 17-year-old girl from Ohio can be taken overseas and forced to marry a lucky man who gets not only a teen bride but also a spousal visa and path to citizenship.

Additionally, men in Ohio can legally import 17-year-old child brides from any country around the world, a legal form of sex trafficking.

Further, marriage before age 18, even for the most mature 17-year-old, creates a nightmarish legal trap, simply because minors have limited legal rights until the day they turn 18.

Girls trapped

If they leave home to escape from parents who are planning an unwanted wedding for them, they can be taken into police custody and dragged back home or into court.

Where would they go anyway? Domestic violence shelters routinely turn away unaccompanied minors, in Unchained At Last’s experience.

Minors also are generally not allowed to bring a legal action independently, which creates additional obstacles. They also cannot easily retain an attorney to help them navigate this terrifying legal trap, because most contracts with minors, including retainer agreements, are voidable.

This is why all marriage before age 18 is recognized globally as forced marriage, which, in turn, is recognized as modern slavery.

The U.S. State Department also calls marriage before age 18 a human rights abuse, due to the devastating, lifelong repercussions it produces for girls. It undermines nearly every aspect of girls’ lives, from their health to their education and economic opportunities to their physical safety.

SB341, sponsored by Republican Sen. Louis Blessing and Democratic Sen. Bill DeMora, would solve all these problems, yet it would cost nothing. It has a $0 price tag. And it would harm no one, except creepy men who prey on teenage girls.

Ohio legislators must stop cruelly ignoring girls’ suffering and making Jeffrey Epstein proud. Pass SB341 today and ban child marriage.

Chagrin Falls resident Stephanie Lowry was 16 years old and 16 weeks pregnant when she was forced to marry a 19-year-old man in Summit County in 2001. She endured years of physical, sexual and financial abuse before she escaped, rebuilt her life and became an advocate.

Fraidy Reiss is a forced marriage survivor turned activist. She is founder and executive director of Unchained At Last, a nonprofit working to end forced and child marriage across the U.S.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The CDC and public health officials are investigating multi-state outbreaks of salmonella, including five people in Ohio. 

Dr. Joanna Failor with OhioHealth noted the outbreak of salmonella illnesses is linked to contact with backyard poultry.  

“The current strain that they’re seeing is related to the backyard chickens that many of us may have or our neighbors have,” Failor said. “It has been shown on almost every case, or I believe, actually every case, has been resistant to at least one of the typical medicines that we would use.” 

According to the CDC, more than 180 people have been infected with the outbreak strains of salmonella. About 34% of people have been hospitalized. Over a quarter of those infected are children under the age of 5.   

“The under-five are a lot less reliable with their hand washing and they’re much more likely to be touching their face and not really handling chickens appropriately,” Failor said. “If kids or adults really can’t keep fluids down and they’re just starting to get lightheaded, dizzy, really weak. Those would all be reasons that they need to seek treatment.” 

Though the majority of people can recover from illness without treatment, preventing exposure and sticking to the basics is the best way to avoid infection.   

“It goes back to making sure you handle everything properly, hand wash, cook your eggs, throw away cracked eggs,” Failor said. “Hopefully if there is one single source that is the explanation for all of these, then they’ll need to look into their hand hygiene practices.” 

Health officials explained the true number of cases is likely much higher than what has been reported, but the CDC is collecting data to identify the source of the outbreak.