Sen. Portman leads discussion with local officials, FBI on human trafficking

BOARDMAN

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Cincinnati-area Republican, visited the Valley today to talk about a topic that local law enforcement and health-care professionals agree is a worsening problem: human trafficking.

At a roundtable discussion at St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital, Portman met with representatives of the Northeast Ohio Coalition Against Human Trafficking, Mercy Health officials and local law enforcement and elected officials. Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally, Maj. Jeff Allen with the Mahoning County Sheriff’s office, Boardman Trustee Tom Costello, Boardman Police Chief Jack Nichols and Todd Werth, head of the Youngstown Federal Bureau of Investigation office, were among those who attended.

Portman talked to the group about one of the ways he is looking to curb human trafficking: the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, a bipartisan bill that Portman introduced earlier this month.

The act takes aim at websites such as Backpage.com.

Portman explained that legal challenges to the site in recent years have been unsuccessful because a provision of the Communications Decency Act shields websites such as Backpage. His legislation seeks to eliminate federal liability protections for websites that “assist, support, or facilitate a violation of federal sex-trafficking laws.”

Read more about the situation in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.