Ohio man indicted on sex-trafficking charges involving Monroeville hotel

An Ohio man was indicted by a federal grand jury Friday on charges that he transported a minor to a Monroeville hotel to engage in “commercial” sex acts, U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan said in a news release.

Donte Lashawn Cole, 39, of Euclid, an Ohio suburb of Cleveland, allegedly used online advertisements to market the minor for commercial sex work between April and October. Federal officials said in May , Cole transported the female victim to a Monroeville hotel, which was not named in the release.

With assistance from the multi-agency Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, Cole was taken into custody in Euclid, where the minor was also located, partially nude, in an upstairs bedroom, Olshan said.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and U.S. Department of Homeland Security conducted the investigation that led to the indictment.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry praised the coordination across departments.

“Without collaboration between law enforcement, human traffickers are able to move from city to city and state to state in the shadows, while profiting from traumatic acts their victims feel obligated to perform,” Henry said. “Our charges, and the ensuing federal indictment, bring this egregious conduct to light and seek to end a reign of predatory behavior.”

If convicted, Cole faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, a $250,000 fine or both.

Removing barriers

On Thursday, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a new law that helps remove barriers for trafficking victims seeking both justice and support services.

Senate Bill 44, passed with bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, removes third-party control for access to victim services.

Under previous state law, a minor exploited for commercial sex must identify their third-party perpetrator to be considered a victim of human trafficking.

Many of the same legislators also sponsored Senate Bill 45, which eliminates the third-party control requirement to access victim services under the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline Notification Act. The bill awaits a final vote in the Pennsylvania House.

“These bills remove barriers to early interventions like counseling, legal assistance, housing supports, child care and more to ensure victims of human trafficking have the tools they need to heal while the wheels of justice turn,” said state Sen. Maria Collett, D-Lower Gwynedd, one of a bipartisan group of the bill’s sponsors.

The package of bills also expands the authority already granted to officers appearing undercover as minors, allowing undercover law enforcement to pose as a third party selling a minor into sexual exploitation.

In 2021, 315 human trafficking victims — including 42 minors — were identified in Pennsylvania through the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Pennsylvania had the eighth highest number of response sent to the hotline in the nation that year.