CLEVELAND — A Cleveland man is facing multiple charges, including human trafficking, after allegedly transporting a girl to multiple locations near Atlanta so that she could be sold for commercial sex.
The Green County Sheriff's Office and the GBI's Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Unit arrested 32-year-old Anthony Holmes of of Cleveland on Friday, Aug. 4.
According to a press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the teenage victim was reported as a missing runaway from Ohio. The FBI and South Carolina authorities previously found and identified the 16-year-old as a victim of human trafficking. Officials say that Holmes and another female allegedly transported the victim from South Carolina to Atlanta where she continued to be exploited.
Holmes is facing the following charges:
- 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
The arrest came just two days after the Greene County Sheriff's Office encountered Holmes, the victim and an adult woman near Greensboro when they attempted to stop Holmes' car for an equipment violation. Holmes sped away, resulting in a police pursuit. Eventually, officers executed a pit maneuver, when officers noticed "multiple red flags indicating the teenager was being sex trafficked."
Officials say that at this time the investigation is active and ongoing and that additional charges may follow. Once the investigation is done, the case will be turned over to the George Attorney General's Human Trafficking Unit for prosecution.
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