In a first of its kind case here in Georgia, four sex-trafficking survivors have filed a lawsuit against four metro Atlanta hotels, claiming the hotels profited from and participated in sex trafficking. The complaint also alleges a sign was a front desk fixture there for years declaring “no refunds after 15 minutes,” encouraging commercial sex for a one-night rate.
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Seven child trafficking victims — the youngest just 15 years old — were rescued in Georgia during a month-long, operation, the FBI announced Tuesday. They were among 103 child victims recovered across the nation in an investigation that involved more than 400 agencies. Sixty-seven sex traffickers were also arrested, authorities said.
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Brian Hernandez Acosta, the lead defendant in a child sex trafficking case out of Dalton, has pleaded guilty to charges of conducting a child exploitation enterprise, conspiring to engage, and engaging, in sex trafficking minors by force, fraud, or coercion, sex trafficking of children under 18 years old, interstate transport of a minor for prostitution, producing child pornography, and distributing cocaine to a person under 21 years old.
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According to court records, three underage teens were victimized by the defendants between November 2016 and January 2017. According to Chatham County jail officials, the three defendants are not currently in their custody.
Read MoreHall County, GA – A man in Hall County was charged with sexual exploitation of a child. Investigators said they found a lewd image of a child on Kimmerle’s computer.
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“Sexually exploiting children is pure evil, and our Office will continue to bring the full weight of our prosecutorial powers to ensure that offenders are brought to justice,” said Charlie Peeler, the U.S. Attorney. “To the victims of child exploitation: we support you and we will continue to target, arrest and prosecute those who have hurt you.
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“Thanks to the month-long efforts of our partners, 231 children are no longer vulnerable to predators who would seek to exploit them,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, GA. “Operation Safe Summer is another example of the FBI’s commitment to protecting our children before they become victims.”
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“We are excited to build this Human Trafficking Unit with dedicated staff who will work every day to protect our state’s most vulnerable and put buyers and traffickers behind bars,” Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement.
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“This defendant showed a complete disregard for the women he entrapped into sex trafficking,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, GA.. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners made this case a priority and were successful in getting Obie off our community’s streets, despite his efforts to circumvent the charges against him by intimidating his victims.”
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U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak said, “Sex trafficking exploits and traumatizes some of the most vulnerable members of our society. We are sending a clear message to those seeking to engage in this type of criminal activity: you will be caught and prosecuted.”
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Experts say one out of every nine Middle Georgia ninth graders admits they know someone who has been sold for sex. Traffick Jam quickly grew. Dr. Tammy Crutchfield with Mercer University said since its inception in 2015, students have educated over 3,000 Middle Georgia high schoolers.
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A Georgia group is helping survivors of human trafficking turn the pain of their past into symbols of triumph, with a little assistance from tattoo artists. The work they’re doing covers up and alters tattoos, signs and scars inflicted upon survivors, using them to create works of art.
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In the next two weeks, Georgia’s First Lady plans to announce who will take part in a special commission created to address human trafficking in the state. “People don’t want to talk about, [be]cause they don’t think it’s going to happen to them,” said Marty Kemp. “We’ve had it happen in Athens. We’ve had it happen in Atlanta personally, with people that I know and I’m close to in my staff. So, you know, it’s right at our backdoor and we can’t ignore it anymore.”
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It truly took a community effort to build this community of tiny houses. More than 40 businesses donated materials and labor. Every Saturday 50 to 100 volunteers, many from local churches, would show up to help.
Read MoreWhile in production of “Blind Eyes Opened,” a documentary about the truth of sex trafficking in America through the mouths of survivors. Geoff Rogers met Kevin Malone, former general manager of the Dodgers. The two of them began asking why, with thousands of nonprofits in the fight against trafficking in the U.S., were we losing the battle.
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In Atlanta, GA. more than 25 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as seven non-government organizations cooperated together to apprehend traffickers, according to an FBI announcement Tuesday. Law enforcement made 169 arrests between Jan. 23 and Feb. 2, according to the FBI.
Read MoreAmong those arrested in Atlanta, GA. before the Super Bowl were 26 suspects alleged to be sex traffickers and 34 suspects who allegedly attempted to engage in sex acts with minors, according to the FBI. Nine juvenile victims of sex trafficking were rescued, including a 14-year-old.
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Police in Atlanta, Georgia, have arrested 40 people as they investigate human trafficking around the weekend’s Super Bowl sports event in the US. Four victims have rescued including two minors. The annual event – like many large scale gatherings around the world – is known to attract traffickers who exploit their victims through forced prostitution. Churches from the US-based Episcopal Church have taken part in a campaign to help reach out to potential victims.
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Three days before Super Bowl LIII, 33 people were arrested for sex trafficking in the Atlanta area. The city hosts Super Bowl LIII on Sunday. Atlanta, GA. is also considered one of the biggest hubs of sex trafficking nationwide.
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“It’s not necessarily about football or the NFL,” says Courtney Dow, an outreach coordinator for the Atlanta-based nonprofit Dream Center. “It’s just about when groups of men get together, usually trafficking and exploitation increases. “They’re on vacation, their wives and girlfriends aren’t with them, and it’s also a boys’ club, and it’s time for boys to boys.”
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With Super Bowl LIII just a week away and the city of Atlanta seeing an influx of visitors over the next week; human trafficking experts believe the problem may be growing with the crowds. But advocates are also stepping up their efforts to identify and help those who may be being trafficked…The Soap Project is an initiative that places bars of soap and wipes with the number to the human trafficking hotline in places where those who are being trafficked may frequent.
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Shaela Latrece Chatman of Riverdale, GA. is accused of taking two teenage girls to the Gwinnett Pointe apartment complex where she allegedly set up the meetings and prices online for the girls, ages 14 and 15, and then drove them “to dates located at hotels, apartments and houses,”
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As Atlanta readies for the Super Bowl, the school system is amping up efforts to train teachers and inform students about the risk of human trafficking. Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said students are in danger of being sexually exploited every day, and the Super Bowl is one more event that increases that risk.
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A line of school buses with new decals to draw attention to human trafficking make their way on a road in Atlanta, GA. Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019. The Georgia attorney general used the new decals on dozens of school buses.
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An Atlanta, Georgia-based faith organization dedicated to eradicating child sex trafficking is using technology to help victims of the crime receive help and even prevent them from entering what could be a lifetime of degradation and tragedy. The Super Bowl brings millions of people into the city and sex trafficking will ebb and flow with the event, just like business at restaurants, bars and adult establishments.”
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Human trafficking. Modern-day slavery. Human smuggling. Sex trafficking. These are all things that happen in faraway places and are not part of my world — or so I thought. During the 2018 election cycle, I was shocked to see candidates’ ads about stopping human trafficking in Atlanta. “Atlanta?!” I thought. Yes, Atlanta.
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Because Atlanta ranks among the top U.S. cities for human trafficking, The Salvation Army of Metro Atlanta is calling upon our city’s officials, leaders, businesses and citizens to band together to rescue and prevent the exploitations of the 4,000 victims per year.
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South Fulton is the first of 15 cities in Fulton County to make the human trafficking notice a municipal requirement for certain businesses, City Councilwoman Helen Z. Willis recently announced.
Read MoreBoth men and women were arrested, and they ranged in age from 25 to 60, reported WSAV News. The stings occurred on June 27, July 18 and July 21, according to the Savannah Morning News.
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The Georgia Restaurant Association is asking its members to voluntarily post signs in restrooms to help victims of human trafficking.
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A former Georgia school administrator accused of sexually abusing students was arrested Friday on multiple charges in three counties, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
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A Lithonia man who is known as World was sentenced to spend at least 30 years in prison after he was convicted of several charges related to sex trafficking and drug possession, according to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office.
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The FBI and Georgia law enforcement officials saved Atlanta 160 children and made dozens of arrests in a sex sting that stunned the city.
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A sting on the sex-trafficking trade in metro Atlanta netted dozens of arrests and the rescue of dozens of children forced into sexual servitude.
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A former high school teacher and police officer pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor Friday.
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