Peach Tree Times

She was only 14, and she was missing. Two months later she was found and rescued from a group of people who had been using her for sex work. 

In the last month, four people — Jody Netter, Courdale Thayer, Jahaundria Seabron and Raphel Olivia Sewer — have been arrested and charged with exploiting her. All remain behind bars.

“In February, the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit rescued a 14-year-old victim who had gone missing from the College Park area seven weeks prior,” the Georgia Attorney General’s Office tells Peach Tree Times. “The recovery took approximately two months and the overall investigation into the four defendants took approximately 10 months, with arrest warrants issued for Netter and Sewer on Nov. 2 and Thayer and Seabron on Dec. 6.”

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr | File Photo

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said his office invests much time and effort into investigating this type of crime.

“Our Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit continues to play an integral role in our state’s response to the abuse and exploitation of Georgia’s children,” Carr said in a news release. “Our team works from the ground up to identify potential cases, locate and rescue victims, and prosecute buyers and traffickers.”

The Center for Public Policy Studies outlines the impact of sex trafficking in Georgia.

Five thousand girls are currently at-risk of being sex trafficked and 374 girls are sexually trafficked every month, according to the center. The average age that girls enter the Georgia commercial sex market is 12 to 14, the center said, adding that more than 7,000 Georgia men pay for sex with an adolescent woman every month.

One hundred adolescent girls are sexually exploited every night in the state of Georgia. And finally, Atlanta has the highest rate of Hispanic females that are trafficked out of any location in the United States, according to the center.

Kara Richardson, the attorney general’s communications director, said the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit initiated its investigation after reviewing an alert issued by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“From this alert, unit investigator Bryan Kimbell was able to identify, locate and rescue the 14-year-old victim,” Richardson told Peach Tree Times. “Following this rescue, the unit went to work to identify, locate and arrest the four individuals for human trafficking and other charges.”

Here is a summary of the charges against the four individuals and the maximum potential sentences if convicted.

Jody Netter: Human trafficking for sexual servitude, rape, child molestation and cruelty to children. If convicted, the maximum potential sentence is life in prison plus 40 years.

Raphel Olivia Sewer: Human trafficking for sexual servitude. If convicted, the maximum potential sentence is life in prison.

Courdale Thayer: Human trafficking for sexual servitude, cruelty to children, false imprisonment and aggravated assault. If convicted the maximum potential sentence is life in prison plus 40 years.

Jahaundria Seabron: Human trafficking for sexual servitude. If convicted, the maximum potential sentence is life in prison.

Court dates have not been scheduled at this time, Richardson said.

“The Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit includes a victim advocate who works with victims to determine any resources they may need, such as housing or counseling,” she said. “This is an individualized process, and every victim is different.

“Just this year, the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit has initiated 25 cases, arrested nine individuals, investigated and prosecuted 51 defendants, and rescued and assisted 107 victims,” Richardson said.

The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office Trafficking and Child Exploitation Unit, South Fulton Police Department, Union City Police Department, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations assisted in the case.