Cincinnati landlord accused of accepting sex for rent

CINCINNATI - A federal lawsuit filed Monday claims a longtime Cincinnati landlord has been blackmailing his female tenants into having sex with him for the last three years.

Henry Bailey of Silverton currently owns 22 apartment units across the city including 18 on Kinsey Ave. in Mt. Auburn.

The six page court document says Bailey would enter his female tenants' apartments without warning, make unwelcome sexual advances and comments and evict tenants who would not comply.

Jon Oglesby lives in Bailey's Mt. Auburn apartment building and says the girls involved lived in the apartment just below him.

"He would go in their house for long periods of time like hours at a time," Oglesby said.

Oglesby said the girls involved were all in their early twenties.  He encourages anyone in a similar situation to speak out.

"If anybody's going through that, any female, tell on him. Report him," Oglesby said.  "Because that isn't right."

According to court documents, over the last 20 years Bailey has owned 35 apartments in eight different buildings across Cincinnati.

His current property in Mt. Auburn is listed on the Hamilton County Auditor's website and includes a contact address.  9 News went to both that address and the address listed on the court documents, but Bailey was not able to be reached.

The U.S. Department of Justice receives thousands of housing complaints every year but only files suit in about 30.

If the federal government can prove its case against Bailey, he will have to pay an undisclosed amount of money.