YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Major League Baseball umpire Brian O’Nora was arrested Sunday with 13 other men as part of a sex sting operation in Ohio, investigators said.
Liberty Township police and the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force operated the single-day sting targeting people who were using the internet to arrange sex-for-pay encounters, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said.
“John stings deter those seeking to purchase sex — reducing the demand for human trafficking — and serve as a reminder that these crimes are more prevalent and closer to home than you may think,” Yost said in a statement.
The 14 men were arrested and charged with soliciting, a third-degree misdemeanor; and possessing criminal tools, a first-degree misdemeanor, prosecutors said. The arrests were made when the suspects arrived at a hotel with money to pay for sex, USA Today reported.
O’Nora, 57, a professional baseball umpire since 1999, was the first official to review a baseball play after the league expanded its use of replay, during a 2014 spring training game. He has also worked three All-Star Games, six division series, the 2008 American League Championship Series and the 2012 World Series.
Major League Baseball declined to comment on O’Nora’s arrest, USA Today reported.
His official bio was still listed on MLB.com Tuesday morning. It indicates that he is married with three children and his “hobbies include golf, training dogs and going to the gym.”
