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Cuyahoga County prosecutors say James Walsh is accused of running a brothel out of the third floor of this office building, and prosecutors are seeking to seize it.

(Marvin Fong/The Plain Dealer)

Willena Martin talks about the allegations that the owner of the Walsh Professional Center ran a brothel out of the third floor of the building. Her daughter's dentist is in the building.

BEDFORD, Ohio — Willena Martin walked out of the Walsh Professional Center and learned that Cuyahoga County prosecutors accused the man who controlled it of running a prostitution ring out of the third floor of the building. The same building where Martin's teenage daughter goes for dental appointments.

"Are you serious? A brothel in there?'' she said. "If there's a brothel here, there's a lot of creepy people around, and I don't want people like that near my daughter.''

Martin, of Cleveland, was hardly alone in her reaction after learning that James Walsh, 71, of Willoughby Hills, was indicted on prostitution charges. The building is listed in the name of Janet Walsh, but a spokesperson for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said James Walsh controlled and managed it.

Prosecutors say Bedford police learned of the ring after one of the women working there overdosed. McGinty said in a statement that his office is seeking to seize the three-story structure.

The building, next to the YMCA and across the street from a church, contains home health care businesses, a cash-leasing firm, a dentist's office and a small driver's training center.

James Walsh

A sign in the building says Walsh's business, J.F. Walsh Insurance, is on the third floor, along with a distributing business. Neither was occupied Thursday, as the floor was mostly dim. Each door had a video-surveillance camera above it.

"Moving is the first thing that I thought of,'' said Sharon Rush, the nursing supervisor at Ace Home Health Care, which occupies an office on the second floor. "We have been here, and we're established.''

She said she knew Walsh to say hello but that was about it. She remembered the day police arrived at the building, Sept. 30. Officers seized $6,750 in cash.

"They said, 'Something has happened on the third floor; you don't have to worry,' '' Rush said.

In fact, there was plenty to worry about.

County records show Janet Walsh owes more than $127,600 in delinquent taxes. The building is valued at $591,000.

"I'm absolutely stunned,'' said Mary Sass, who lives on Willard Avenue, near Walsh's building. "I was just hoping that they would keep the building open because the economy is so bad, and everything is closing up. But to have a prostitution ring there? It's stunning that something like this is going on there.''

Clarence Cook of Cleveland dropped his wife off to run a quick errand in the building. He heard the news of the charges and looked at the building.

"Nowadays, you wouldn't think that it could happen in an office building,'' he said. "It's surprising that something like that would be happening here, very surprising.''

But a sign on a back door of the business seems to indicate that the building drew lots of people.

"Please do not sit, stand or smoke in the doorway entrance! There is space available at the end of the building on the grass, along the fence line," it said. "Tables will be placed there soon. Thank you for your consideration for others. J. Walsh.''