GBI, Georgia deputies rescue 16-year-old human trafficking victim from South Carolina
GREEN COUNTY, Ga. - An Ohio man was recently arrested in Georgia and charged with trafficking a 16-year-old girl from South Carolina. Officials took him down after a highway chase through Greensboro.
The Greene County Sheriff's Office found the teen with 32-year-old Anthony Holmes of Cleveland, Ohio, and an adult woman driving along the highway on Aug. 2. They said they were performing an interdiction on the roadway, stopping multiple cars, but Holmes refused to stop and sped away.
The Taliaferro County Sheriff's Office joined Greene County deputies in the pursuit and performed a pit maneuver.
After the cars collided, deputies said they "noticed multiple red flags indicated the teenager was being sex trafficked." They called the GBI Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Unit and discovered she had been sold for sex in multiple locations around metro Atlanta.
The teen had been reported as a missing runaway out of Ohio, but the FBI and authorities in South Carolina, where she was actually from, confirmed the GBI's findings.
Holmes has been charged with the following:
- Human trafficking
- Fleeing and eluding
- Possession of marijuana with intent to distribute
- Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
- Possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime
- Contributing to the delinquency if a minor
- Various traffic related charges
Holmes was booked into the Greene County Jail.
Officials believe the woman in the car helped Holmes take the girl from South Carolina to Atlanta.
There has been no word of any charges she may face.