SALEM — An out-of-towner who traveled to Salem for sex Wednesday afternoon faced law enforcement officers instead of the arranged date he expected.

Misdemeanor charges of soliciting prostitution, possession of criminal tools and advertising massage services have been filed against Larry Smith, 70, of Painesville, by an agent with the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force.

The task force, through the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, has been conducting undercover operations in a demand reduction effort to reduce the sex industry in Ohio.

Salem Police personnel responded at 12:55 p.m. to the municipal lot at Pershing and South Lundy where an arranged meeting was to take place at 1 p.m. between the suspect and his date, who turned out to be a task force agent. The suspect had conversed with the undercover task force agent by text earlier in the day.

Police assisted the agent in making contact with the man for a suspected sex offense. He was driving a blue Chrysler Town & Country and was detained, consented to a search of his vehicle and was taken to the police department.

The task force agent issued summons for Smith to appear in Columbiana County Municipal Court for the offenses.

His cell phone was confiscated as the alleged criminal tool and he was released with the summons.

Earlier this month, a Youngstown man was arrested after coming to Salem for an alleged arranged meeting with a 15-year-old girl. This was another undercover social media operation by the task force.