5 arrested in Rossford undercover prostitution operation

1/24/2013

Five people have been arrested in Rossford in an undercover prostitution operation.

Perrysburg Township police and state law enforcement agents arrested four men and a woman in Rossford on Tuesday. Three of the men were accused of attempting to solicit plainclothes officers for sexual activity and one of complicity to such attempts while the woman was accused of offering herself to a plainclothes officer for sexual activity, according to the Wood County Sheriff's Office.

Tony Pendergraff, 36, of Oregon; Demario Hartfield, 32, of Toledo; James Thompson, 49, of Temperance, and Morgan Morris, 20, of Monroe, were each charged with solicitation while Thomas Welch, 26, of Toledo, was charged with complicity to solicitation, deputies said.

Mr. Pendergraff, Mr. Hartfield, and Mr. Thompson were each released from sheriff deputies' custody pending arraignment Tuesday in Perrysburg Municipal Court.

Ms. Morris was being held in lieu of a $4,500 bond pending arraignment in the court today.

Mr. Welch was arraigned Wednesday and released on his own recognizance pending his next court appearance on Tuesday.