Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force cracking down on the same businesses
For the last seven months, the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force has had their hands full shutting down various spas for solicitation and prostitution.
However each time they're shut down, they're renamed and opened again before you know it, allegedly doing the same things.
"It's just difficult to keep up with. Many times it becomes like a revolving door," Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene said. "We end up closing it down and then it either gets sold to another individual or opened up and then we basically have to start from scratch again with the investigation," he said.
This has been the situation with five different businesses since August 2024.
Cindy's Spa, which was later renamed Healthy Spa in North Lima, was raided and shut down three different times within a two month period.
Elegant Spa, later renamed Zen Spa in Youngstown, was raided and shut down twice.
Harmony Spa, later renamed Sunshine Spa in Canfield, was raided and shut down twice.
Sun Garden Spa in Springfield was also raided and shut down twice as well as 3C Foot Spa in Hubbard.
Major Jeff Allen with the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office told 21 News this cycle is both frustrating and financially demanding. Greene said they're handling it well, though.
"It's obviously costly financially. These task forces take a lot of man power," Greene said. "Man power equals money and when you see them reopen again it can become costly. But that's also an advantage of having a task force like that, you have a lot of input from other agencies, you have a lot of contributing man power which gives us the ability to do these investigations," he said.
Greene said they've changed their approach to be more aggressive when they go after these businesses.
"As soon as you open up, we're gonna be taking a look at it to make sure that it's legit and if it is, that's great," Greene said. "But if it's not, we're closing you down without a doubt," he said.
No matter how long it takes, Greene said they'll be waiting for anyone who thinks they can come to the Mahoning Valley and continue to do this.
"We're not gonna leave this alone, we're not gonna turn our heads and not pay attention to it, we're not going away" Greene said. "We're gonna focus on it and we will verify whether or not it's a legitimate business and if it isn't we're gonna close it down right away," he said.
