State and local police made more than two dozen prostitution-related arrests in the Toledo area between Thursday and Sunday as part of Operation Cross Country, an FBI national sweep of sex trafficking rings to rescue children from prostitution.

FBI Special Agent David Dustin of the Toledo office said authorities arrested 26 people on charges relating to being customers, or "johns," and adult prostitutes. They were found in different parts of the Toledo metro area, including Toledo, Perrysburg Township, and Lake Township.

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"We, along with other law enforcement agencies, targeted the places where we thought there might be instances of child prostitution," Special Agent Dustin said. "They were at all different kinds of venues, like in residences in communities, at truck stops, in motels."

However, the FBI did not find any evidence to suggest that any of those arrested were involved in child prostitution, so none was federally charged. None was identified as a pimp, either.

Sgt. Joe Heffernan of the Toledo Police Department said these arrests are still vital to finding and rescuing children forced into prostitution.

"When we have an operation like this, it's much more than the arrests," he said. "There's a lot of interviews, debriefing, and information gathering."

During the nationwide operation, agents rescued 79 teenagers aged 13 to 17 who authorities say were forced into prostitution and held against their will. Special Agent Dustin said no child prostitutes were found in Toledo during the time span of the operation, although many have been recovered in the area in the past.

"It's been a problem here in northwest Ohio for a while," he said.

In one case, Anthony "Party Time" Willoughby, 34, of Toledo, was convicted Dec. 16 on a charge that he "recruited, enticed, harbored, and transported a juvenile" and, using interstate commerce, forced the youth to engage in commercial sex between Feb. 15 and March 19, 2009.

Nearly 20 witnesses testified over three days before a federal jury reached a guilty verdict for sex trafficking involving a minor.

Willoughby faces 15 years to life in prison when sentenced.

His sentencing in U.S. District Court was rescheduled Tuesday until July 3 to give attorneys time to review recently filed court orders.

In another area case, two teenagers who had been kidnapped were recovered several weeks ago in Bowling Green.

"There is evidence that points to their involvement in coerced sexual acts," Special Agent Dustin said Tuesday.

More than 100 people suspected of being pimps were arrested in 57 U.S. cities during the three-day Operation Cross Country sweep by the FBI, state, and local police forces. According to an FBI press release, one was arrested by the Cleveland FBI division and three were arrested by the Detroit division.

The operation was part of the Innocence Lost initiative, a national FBI effort to fight child sex trafficking.

The initiative, founded in 2003 in partnership with the Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, has 47 Innocence Lost Task Forces, including one in Toledo.

The task forces make the mission of Operation Cross Country their everyday jobs, Special Agent Dustin said.

"We work this every day, 365 days a year, not just as part of a national coordinated effort," he said. "This is something that is an ongoing problem, and we recover these victims fairly frequently."

In recent weeks, Sergeant Heffernan said, the task force has conducted prostitution street sweeps, hotel-motel sting operations, and a raid on a local massage parlor.

Even if these efforts do not lead the force to child prostitutes, Sergeant Heffernan said, all arrests are a valuable asset to the Innocence Lost initiative.

"A lot of prostitutes, maybe they're not juveniles anymore, but they possibly have information on juveniles that are out there or maybe they can give us information on how they started their lives of prostitution when they were juveniles," Sergeant Heffernan said.

Innocence Lost has recovered more than 2,200 children. Operation Cross Country is the sixth nationwide sweep.

Staff writer Erica Blake contributed to this report.

Contact Mel Flanagan at: mflanagan@theblade.com or 419-724-6087.

First Published June 27, 2012, 6:01 a.m.