COLUMBUS – Five men and women from Columbus and Lancaster have been charged with operating a sex-trafficking ring in the Columbus area.
An investigation which began in 2016 found that the three women and two men allegedly trafficked a dozen women over a two year period through the use of online sex advertising, allegedly targeting women who were addicted to heroin, according to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
“Over the course of the investigation, task force members identified and rescued a number of human trafficking victims who fell prey to this alleged human trafficking organization,” DeWine said.
Four of the suspects named in the 42-count indictment returned Tuesday by a Franklin County grand jury — Curtis Gossett, 59 (pictured above, top left); Christina Austin, 28 (bottom left), and Jeffrey Bagley, 37 (top center), all of Columbus, and 44-year-old Stacey Rockey, of Lancaster (bottom center) — were arrested Wednesday on charges related to human trafficking, compelling and promoting prostitution, as well as engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and money,task force director Sgt. Mark Rapp said.
A fifth suspect who was indicted as part of the investigation, Brooke Adkins, 26 (far right), of Columbus, is charged with possession of heroin and aggravated possession of drugs.
The case is being prosecuted by the office of Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien.
DeWine says the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, a coalition of local, county, state and federal agencies, began investigating the case in 2016 after receiving several tips regarding an alleged human trafficking ring, DeWine said.
DeWine says authorities with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office assisted the task force with the arrests.