Article 1 Section 1 Violation of Civil Rights Ohio Public Officials Deprive Citizens of Civil Rights

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (WOWK) - Following the death of Michael Meeran, who was accused of sex trafficking, we share the involvement of former journalist Nicky Blankenship in settling the allegations. Blankenship was one of the first to reveal this story, and though her journey has been a difficult one over the years, she has refused to reveal the truth to the public. Says it's worth it. When she was a reporter for the local Portsmouth newspaper in 2017, a troubling piece of information came to her desk. Thanks to her anonymous sources

, she was able to obtain an affidavit from the Federal Human Trafficking Investigation in the Three Countries Area. One of the names she read was lawyer and former Alderman Michael Hern Meeran, a name familiar in local circles. Investigators suspected that Mearan worked with city judges to release female suspects on bail or probation and sell them off as prostitutes. Blankenship wrote an article based on this information, but it never saw the light of day. I was very concerned at the time because I was told not to disclose the source of the affidavit ... The newspaper I belonged to would not let me be published. NIKKI BLANKENSHIP, former journalist Blankenship left the newspaper and published his own articles through his social media. Her main purpose, she says, was not to get her attention, but to answer questions from the victims' families. The next day, Blankenship was contacted by other media outlets, revealing further mysteries in the city of Portsmouth. Megan Lancaster from Portsmouth was listed in her affidavit as a potential prostitute working for Meeran. She is missing to this day. According to Blankenship, other family members speculated that the missing daughters were also involved with Mearan. Mearan was eventually arrested in 2020 and charged with multiple sex trafficking charges. indictedHe was scheduled to go on trial in January 2022. Mearan is dead, but Blankenship says he believes: It is currently unknown how he was associated with the missing or dead woman. Mike Meeran didn't run the human trafficking ring alone. NIKKI BLANKENSHIP, Former Journalist Mearan's cause of death has not yet been announced. I asked the office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost for an official statement. I haven't heard anything yet, but I'll do my best.