Prostitution calls drive police to act, if they can
CHILLICOTHE – With its convergence of major highways, Chillicothe risks the convenience of criminal activity easily moving in and out of the city, including prostitution.
City police have received a half-dozen calls within the past two weeks reporting suspicious activity that could include prostitution, Chillicothe Police Department Capt. Larry Bamfield said.
What police are struggling with, however, is being able to gather the evidence necessary to make arrests.
“We get tons of suspicious persons calls, and we begin there,” Bamfield said. “But without knowing the locations that the calls are coming in, it’s hard for me to title it as prostitution because we can’t prove it.”
Ohio law defines prostitution as an illegal activity where it is a crime to “solicit a person to engage in sexual activity in exchange for money,” according to criminaldefenselawyer.com.
Calls to check suspicious activity have been coming primarily from the area of Second and Mulberry streets, Bamfield said. When officers respond to calls, however, they often find nobody there or someone loitering, who they then contact in person.
“We got a call about a woman drinking coffee and soliciting,” Bamfield said. “We got there and we couldn’t find her. We got there quick, too, within four minutes, but she was not in the area. When we are driving in these areas and they see any suspicious activity, (officers) stop and talk to them, of course.”
Loitering for the purpose of prostitution is a criminal act if the subject is near a public place and gesturing to, stopping or trying to stop someone; engaging or trying to engage someone in conversation; stopping, trying to stop, or approaching a driver of a car, stopping, gesturing to, or getting a person to approach or enter a car; or blocking a person’s movement, according to Ohio Revised Code.
Bamfield said the department has not arrested anyone for prostitution since November 2011, when Dustin Caplinger was charged with one count of promoting prostitution and Sierra Dennis was charged with one count of soliciting at the Chillicothe Inn.
Dennis’ charge was later dismissed at the request of the Chillicothe law director to determine the resolution in Caplinger’s case. Caplinger was later charged with one count of procuring prostitution and sentenced to one year of community control and 50 hours of community service.
The drug problem, Bamfield said, is the driving force for not just prostitution but also most crime in the city and the state.
“I don’t think that we are abnormal,” Bamfield said. “I think that it is probably the same problem everyone else is seeing. It stems out of the drug issue. So I think it’s an issue and a problem, but I don’t think it’s anything that anyone else isn’t seeing.”
The closeness of prostitution activities to human trafficking is a concern for the Ross County Coalition to End Human Trafficking.
“What we typically hear is that prostitution is something a person does by choice,” said Julie Oates, of the coalition. “But I think what people fail to look at more is that, more often than not, there is (a john) who is selling them or is behind it.”
According to an estimate from the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission Research and Analysis Sub-Committee Report on the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio, at least 3,437 foreign-born people are at risk of labor or sex trafficking in the state. The number of people being trafficked today is estimated to be 783.
Youths also are at risk of sex trafficking, with 2,879 being considered at risk.
“We have a lot of girls and boys who can easily solicit because it is an accepted culture,” Oates said. “For a long time, nothing was being done.”
The coalition works with several agencies, including law enforcement and medical personnel, to help those who are trying to escape trafficking and rebuild their lives. People seeking help can contact city police, the Ross County Sheriff’s Office, Adena Medical Center, and other victim advocacy agencies.