Elyria hosts third annual walk to end human trafficking

ELYRIA — About two dozen individuals walked silently in single-file through downtown Elyria on Saturday morning. Ignoring the October chill and the threat of rain, the group snaked from Ely Square, up to St. Mary's Church, around The Chronicle-Telegram to Broad Street before coming back to the gazebo, staring straight ahead, holding signs calling for an end to human trafficking. It was the third annual A21 Walk for Freedom, a national effort to bring awareness to human trafficking. The event comes on the heels of a large sting operation last month that netted 160 arrests, including three Lorain County residents. The operation led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost's Ohio Organized Crime Investigation Commission sought to arrest those trying to buy sex and identify survivors of human trafficking. Brae Chamberlin, 28, of Oberlin, Nicholas McMillan, 25, of Sheffield Lake, and Joshua Mull, 38, of Amherst were among the list of those arrested. All three individuals were arrested by the Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force in Westlake and charged with engaging in prostitution. Charges will be filed in Rocky River Municipal Court, said Steve Irwin, press secretary for Yost. The operation took place between Sept. 25 and Sept. 30, touching every corner of the state, including Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, Youngstown, Marietta and Portsmouth. Over the course of the week, 149 "johns" seeking to buy sex were arrested and charged with engaging in prostitution. Additional arrests included two individuals for seeking to have sex with minors and six for promoting prostitution. Others were arrested and charged with illegally possessing narcotics and/or firearms, or because there were outstanding warrants against them. Local Walk for Freedom organizer Naomi Stiles, of Elyria, said the event has grown steadily since its first year, with almost 40 people registering to come out Saturday. "We can see human trafficking end in our lifetime," Stiles told those gathered before they began their walk. Several members of Avon's Journey Church attended Saturday, including Joy Rudzitis. But for Rudzitis, the event held a personal connection, she said, as she was drugged and sexually assaulted by her ex-boyfriend and five other men in April 2019. "I've been waiting a long time to share my story and be there for everybody who has had to go through this and struggle every day afterward," she said. "And somehow stop what is going on and educate … from the police to hospitals to the courts — I don't think there's enough education and awareness and (diligence) to stop what is happening." She said she was thankful to be at Saturday's march and hoped to be able to use what happened to her to help others. "I think that there's power in people's voices and you need to talk and you need to tell people what happened and you need to be aware because they want you to stay silent," she said. "They want you not to talk — they want you to just disappear with shame and hurt and anger and frustration. … We need to share our stories." Others, like Deanna Keikecz — with 3-year-old daughter Jada Smith in tow — walked to promote a safer world for their family. Keikecz saw the movie "Sound of Freedom" and said she cried the entire movie with the other women she went with. "It really set my heart on fire and I'm super passionate because I have a little one and I'm in the kids ministry and I help out (with kids), so I'm just really, really passionate about kids … and I couldn't imagine anything happening to my kid. It really traumatized me to even think about it." "Sound of Freedom" follows a Homeland Security special agent's work to return two trafficked children back to their father in Honduras. Keikecz said she had friends whose children have gone missing — found shortly thereafter hiding in an abandoned house — but said for a time the families weren't sure if their children had been kidnapped. She's also had women in her family tell her they've been followed in stores or while driving. "These are our kids and someone's mom or loved one could come up missing," she said, noting she's been concerned for her own safety for some time, and has taught her daughter to point out if someone is looking at her strangely. Laura Vandyke was also walking for her daughter, as well as the families left to wonder what happened to their missing loved ones. "It doesn't only happen to women and children," she said. "It happens to anybody, it could be men … men are part of the victims. I feel like I'm walking for everyone that has ever had anything happen to them. For the families that just don't know … I couldn't imagine what it would be like being up every night wondering if you're going to feel the warmth of your family's love or hug ever again, and also for the survivors." A21, the parent organization of Elyria's walk, estimates human trafficking is a more than $150 billion industry worldwide, with an estimated 40.3 million individuals currently enslaved. Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings, including the recruitment, control and use of people for their bodies and their labor. It is not limited to sex trafficking, but includes forced labor and domestic servitude, according to A21's website. The national nonprofit was founded in 2008 and provides education and awareness campaigns, alongside operating hotlines, victim identification operations, legal assistance for survivors and an emergency shelter for survivors. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.