USHL team's Director of Hockey Ops arrested in prostitution sting.

A scandal has rocked the United States Hockey League on Saturday afternoon, with news that one team's Director of Hockey Operations has been suspended following his arrest in what is being reported to be a prostitution sting conducted by a human trafficking task force.

The news broke on Saturday when the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL released a relatively vague statement, indicating only that one of their employees had indeed been arrested and was facing charges as a result of his actions.

From the Phantoms:

The Phantoms have learned that an employee has been arrested on misdemeanor prostitution charges. He has been suspended by the team pending an investigation. Our primary concern will always be the safety of our players, and we will continue to monitor the situation as it develops.

Additional details have begun to emerge since that initial statement with The Athletic's Scott Wheeler reporting that the man at the center of this story is the team's Director of Hockey Operations, Robert Acri.

According to Wheeler, Acri is accused of respond to an ad soliciting prostitution which in turn led to him showing up to a location that was part of a sting operation. That operation was carried out by a combination of the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, Salem PD, and Ohio State Highway Patrol.

As mentioned in the statement, Acri has been suspended by the Phantoms at this time with nor further details forthcoming from the team outside of their original statement.

Stay tuned for more on this rapidly developing story.