SARASOTA, Fla. — More than 170 men have been arrested in Hillsborough County, connected to a trafficking and prostitution investigation.
Four of the men have been accused of human trafficking. The others are accused of either soliciting prostitution or seeking out a minor to have sex with.
"When you read the communication of what these people wanted to do with young boys or girls, it is repulsive," Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said.
The investigation was carried out by the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office's new human trafficking unit. Since launching last year, the sheriff's office says they arrested about 360 people and rescued eight survivors.
"When I became Sheriff — I made a commitment to fight illegal prostitution and to protect the citizens of Hillsborough County from being victimized by predators in our midst," Chronister said. "The Human Trafficking Squad has been given all the resources they need to save the victims, who often find themselves in a dark and dangerous life with no way out."
Sheriff Chronister said the local nonprofit, Selah Freedom, which helps trafficking victims played a "crucial" part in the investigation.
It's the same group that Sarasota native Ashley O'Quinn credits with saving her during the darkest years of her life.
"If it wasn't for them, I don't know if I would be alive today," O'Quinn told 10 Tampa Bay.
O'Quinn said when she was 21 years old she was manipulated by someone she thought of as a boyfriend. She began using drugs and was coerced into meeting with men in Sarasota.
Speaking of her trafficker, she said, "There was quite a few times that I would try to escape and he would always come and find me, drag me back into the car or the hotel room or wherever we were at. He was very abusive."
Scared for her life, but feeling trapped, Selah Freedom came into her life and showed her a way out.
"They would show up everywhere, in detox or jail, and just make sure that I was okay and see what I needed help with," O'Quinn said. "And over time, they were really able to build that rapport with me and I was able to start trusting them."
Selah Freedom actively looks for and recovers trafficking victims, working with law enforcement, like the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Misty Lapierre is the non-profit's law enforcement liaison.
"It's really important that we keep working together," Lapierre said. "If you're going to be doing these operations and to have people there to support you and support the victims."
O'Quinn found her way out of her situation when she was 28. Now, five years later, she says she hardly recognizes the person she was throughout those difficult years.
She now works for Selah Freedom, using her experience to help others. O'Quinn says seeing a bust like the one in Hillsborough County and knowing there are fewer men like her trafficker out on the street feels like a small win.
"I don't want another girl to experience that... ever," O'Quinn said.