Child sex trafficking investigations lead to multiple raids yesterday. The FBI confirms that raids in Scioto County on Tuesday were linked to an ongoing child sex trafficking investigation. However, I spoke to Todd Lindgren from the FBI’s Cincinnati office and he told me that their agency had no involvement with the raid at the home of local attorney Michael “Mike” Mearan.
Law enforcement officials raided Mearan’s home and detained him in handcuffs on Wednesday morning. Mearan has been implicated in sex trafficking but the FBI was investigating another, unrelated case. The raid at Mearan’s house was carried out by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Their raids on Tuesday were in connection with the three Scioto County women charged with arranging for children between the ages of 3 and 13 to be raped in exchange for drugs and money.
According to the FBI, “The FBI, the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office and our law enforcement partners executed search warrants on March 24, 2020, in Scioto County related to an ongoing child exploitation investigation. Over the past weekend, three local arrests were made in connection with this investigation.”
Law enforcement officials say Magan Richmond, 32, of Lindeman Road in Portsmouth, Tasha Stringer, 37, of Germany Hollow Road in Wheelersburg, and Kathryn McMullen, 36, of Brushy Fork Road in South Webster arranged for both boys and girls, between the ages to be taken to homes where adults sexually assaulted them, sometimes videotaping and photographing the acts.
The women appeared in Portsmouth Municipal Court on Tuesday and were appointed public defenders. Officials say the children have been removed from the situation and are now in a safe place.
Mr. Lindgren went on to say, The FBI and the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office will continue to pursue these types of cases to protect children and hold predators accountable. Anyone with information about potential child exploitation in the area is asked to contact the FBI at 614-315-4923.”
