John Zitzner, Founder of Breakthrough Charter Schools, Arrested in Human Trafficking Sting

Zitzner, 68 Credit: Breakthrough Charter Schools

Among the 149 Johns arrested in a weeklong, statewide human trafficking sting was John Zitzner, one of the founders of the Breakthrough charter schools in Cleveland and, until very recently, the president of the Friends of Breakthrough nonprofit, the office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today.

Zitzner’s bio is no longer accessible on Breakthrough’s sites and a leadership directory as of Monday morning lists Susan Ertle as interim president of Friends of Breakthrough. (Update: Zitzner resigned on Friday.)

Ertle didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Law enforcement across Ohio teamed up in a concerted effort to stem the demand that fuels human trafficking,” Yost said in a release. “The success of this operation is measured not only by the number of arrests but also by the resources offered to survivors of human trafficking and the intelligence gathered that will propel long-term investigations forward.”

Operation Buyer’s Remorse involved multiple agencies from across the state.

A spokesperson for Yost told Scene Zitzner was arrested on September 28th in Westlake by the Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force and charged with engaging in prositution.

Zitzner founded Entrepreneurship Preparatory and Village Preparatory, and in 2010 founded Breakthrough as the network grew to include other schools.

An email to Zitzner’s work account produced the following auto-reply: “John Zitzner is out of the office tending to a personal matter and is unable to respond at this time.”

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