A Decatur man was arrested for child sex trafficking after he was caught with a 17-year-old Alabama girl inside his car during a traffic stop.
A Georgia State trooper and a sheriff’s deputy stopped Mr. Johnathon Nathaniel Kelly, 29, on I-20 in Taliaferro County for speeding, Mr. John Bankhead, GBI spokesman said Thursday.
And the Greene County deputy noticed a teenage passenger, Mr. Bankhead said.
“The deputy noticed that the juvenile displayed the indicators of commercial sexual exploitation of children that he had learned about in recent training,” Mr. Bankhead said in an emailed statement. “The juvenile eventually told the deputy that she was being held against her will for sexual purposes.”
And the department requested help from the GBI Child Sex Trafficking unit.
Investigators then determined the teen had been sold for sexual purposes in four states since she was 12 years old, Mr. Bankhead said. She was placed in the custody of the Division of Family and Children Services and is receiving medical treatment, he said.
GBI charged Mr. Kelly trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, Mr. Bankhead said.
It’s unclear how the girl, who is from Birmingham, met Mr. Kelly.
“The circumstances of this case exemplifies the importance of the state’s priority in addressing the problem of child sex trafficking in Georgia,” GBI Director Mr. Vernon Keenan said.
Mr. Kelly faces additional charges by the Georgia State Patrol for driving while intoxicated (narcotics), possession of marijuana and speeding. The state trooper also determined that Mr. Kelly had an outstanding warrant from Norcross police for failure to appear.
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