Toledo Man Charged with Sex Trafficking of a Juvenile, Other Offenses
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 27, 2010 |
A criminal complaint was filed today charging Mark A. Fetter with sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; sex trafficking of a juvenile; and obstruction of a sex trafficking investigation, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland Office.
Fetter, 27, of Toledo, was arrested by Toledo police on August 16, 2010 after detectives found a 17-year-old developmentally delayed girl being forced to prostitute herself in Room 26 of the Sunset Motel on Telegraph Road in Toledo.
"There are few crimes more appalling than children being held against their will and forced into prostitution," Dettelbach said.
The case is being investigated by the Northwest Ohio Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force (NWOVCACTF). It originated with the Toledo Police Department’s Vice/Narcotics Unit.
"The FBI and this task force are dedicated to recovering child victims and putting sex traffickers out of this horrific business," Figliuzzi said.
Police were told by a confidential informant that a man later identified as Fetter forced the girl to engage in acts of prostitution at the motel, and that the man later identified as Fetter recruited clients at area bars, according to the complaint.
The informant told police that a few days prior, she witnessed five or six men outside Room 26 of the Sunset Motel, waiting their turn to have sex with the girl, according to the complaint.
An undercover officer later located the girl and she offered to have sex with him for $70. The girl then approached a man later identified as Fetter to get a key to the motel room and told the undercover officer that "he (Fetter) takes care of stuff," according to the complaint.
Toledo police then arrested Fetter and found him with a motel key to Room 26. When police tried to speak to the girl, Fetter yelled to her words to the effect of: "You don’t tell them anything, you are a juvenile, ask for a lawyer," according to the complaint.
The girl’s mother and a subsequent interview with the girl lead investigators to believe the girl functions at a level of someone younger than her age.
The girl is receiving treatment under the auspices of the FBI’s Office for Victim Assistance. Fetter is currently being held without bond.
The NWOVCACTF includes members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, Toledo Police Department, Lima Police Department, Fulton County Sheriff's Office, and the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James V. Moroney.
A charge is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.