WARREN COUNTY, OHIO – A Warren County jury convicted a Cincinnati man of human trafficking, Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell announced. The jury convicted David Barron, 39, of three counts of trafficking in humans (F1), as well as two counts of felonious assault (F2), three counts of promoting prostitution (F4), and one count of unlawful restraint (M3).
Barron’s sentencing will be scheduled later this month. From March through May of this year, Barron compelled a female victim to prostitute herself from two hotels in Mason, Ohio and one in Blue Ash, Ohio. Barron posted photographs of women online and offered prostitution services.
When someone would respond to the online ad, Barron used the hotel rooms for the encounters. Afterward, Barron required the victim to pay all of the money she received to Barron. Barron required the victim to stay in a room against her will and punished her by using physical force, beating her with phone cords, and burning her with a methamphetamine pipe.
“These types of cases are some of the most difficult to prosecute because perpetrators prey on very vulnerable victims—those with significant substance abuse issues, housing issues, employment issues, even criminal histories. To the world, sometimes these women don’t look like victims at all. But they absolutely are.
The perpetrators force these victims to engage in sexual activity against their will, and if they refuse, the perpetrators will beat, torture, and threaten them. And these victims rarely report their situation to law enforcement because the perpetrators have convinced them, “Who will believe you?”, Fornshell said. Fornshell commended Mason Police Department Detective Jeffrey Wyss, Officer John Werner, Officer Scott Burdick, Officer Tommy Donley, Officer Brian Lahman, all of the Mason Police Department, and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Derek B. Faulkner, Victim Witness Coordinator Erika Bourelle and Legal Assistant Brenda Berry from the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office for their work on the case.