Bluffton traffickers sentenced to prison

VW independent news

LIMA – Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has announced the conviction of a Lima man on 15 felony charges for trafficking a minor that he and his girlfriend controlled by getting her addicted to narcotics and fueling that addiction.

“This couple sowed the seeds of degradation: addiction, violence and sexual abuse – and will now reap the grim reality of decades behind bars,” Yost said. “My hope is that these sentences empower the once-victim, to recognize she’s a survivor so she can reclaim her true identity.”

On Friday, Bluffton resident Grant Rose, 58, was found guilty in Allen County Common Pleas Court of: one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a first-degree felony; thirteen counts of trafficking in persons, each a first-degree felony, and one count of promoting prostitution, a fourth-degree felony.

Rose was immediately sentenced to 42.5 years behind bars.

Rose’s co-defendant – Susan Walendzik, 43, also of Bluffton, pleaded guilty February 1 to two counts of trafficking in persons, both first-degree felonies. Under the plea agreement, she will serve a mandatory sentence of 18 years in prison and, after her release, be required to register as a Tier II sex offender for 25 years.

An investigation conducted by the Lima Police Department found that, from July 2018 to December 2020, Rose and Walendzik trafficked the juvenile.

The case was prosecuted by Special Prosecutor Jennifer Rausch, legal director for the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Initiative.