Nine men indicted for crimes against children in Morgan County, Ohio

MCCONNELSVILLE, Ohio (WTAP) - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Morgan County Sheriff Douglas McGrath and members of the Southeastern Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force have provided an update on a large-scale human trafficking investigation that began nearly 10 months ago.

In August 2021, the Southeastern Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, formed under the Attorney General’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, received information that Rusty Campbell of McConnelsville was trafficking a juvenile victim in exchange for money, methamphetamine and other favors. During the course of the subsequent investigation, task force officers learned that Campbell also was having sex with additional juvenile victims, creating child pornography and participating in an online group sharing explicit videos of child sexual abuse.

Campbell was arrested and indicted in Morgan County Common Pleas Court on one count of rape, five counts of human trafficking, 27 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor and two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

The task force then focused its investigation on other involved parties, resulting in numerous arrests and indictments in Morgan County:

· Daniel Charles was indicted on one count of human trafficking, 20 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor and compelling prostitution.

· Caleb Clemens was indicted on one count of human trafficking, corruption of a minor and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

· Cody Dingey was indicted on one count of human trafficking and two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

· Dustin Harlow was indicted on one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

· Matthew Haynes was indicted and pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. He was sentenced to three years in prison and will be required to register as a sex offender upon release. The Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations and the Columbus Division of Police assisted with Haynes’ arrest.

· Tyler Matheney was indicted on one count of human trafficking, three counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor and two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

· Brian O’Neil was indicted and pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and one count of importuning. He will be sentenced Aug. 2.

· Dean Smith was indicted on eight counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor and four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

The task force’s investigation remains ongoing as additional suspects are identified.

Anyone with additional information about this investigation or knowledge of additional victims of human trafficking is encouraged to contact the task force directly through the Washington County Sheriff’s Office at 740-376-7070 or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-3737-888.

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