Local Georgia Attorney Arrested for Sex Trafficking

According to reports out of Cherokee County, a local attorney has been arrested after he allegedly paid a 16-year-old girl to have sex with him.

An investigation into the conduct of the attorney began in December. Authorities have charged him with trafficking a person for sexual servitude because he allegedly provided money, food, and shelter in exchange for sex with the underage girl.

As a Georgia Sex Crimes Attorney, I will do a deep dive on the law behind sex trafficking in the state of Georgia in today's post. Sex trafficking is mentioned frequently through various news outlets but it can be confusing to distinguish what the law actually defines as sex trafficking.

Trafficking a Person for Sexual Servitude in Georgia

Sex Trafficking in Georgia is defined by Georgia Law in O.C.G.A. §16-5-46 as:

When a person knowingly subjects another person to or maintains another person in sexual servitude or knowingly recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains by any means another for the purpose of sexual servitude. 

By law, sexual servitude includes any sexually explicit conduct or performance involving sexually explicit conduct for which anything of value is directly or indirectly given, promised to, or received by any individual, which conduct is induced or obtained:

• By coercion or deception;
• From an individual who is under the age of 18 years;
• From an individual whom the accused believes to be under the age of 18 years;
• From an individual who has a development disability; or
• From an individual from whom the accused believes to have a development disability. 

If convicted of trafficking an individual for labor or sexual servitude, a person will be guilty of a felony and will be punished by a prison term of ten to twenty years and a fine up to $100,000.00. 

Furthermore, the penalty will be escalated if the person has a developmental disability or was under the age of 18 and was coerced or deceived into being trafficked for labor or sexual servitude. Upon conviction, the accused will be guilty of a felony and will receive a fine up to $100,000.00 and a prison term between twenty-five and fifty years.

Practice Note

Georgia Sex Crimes are highly stigmatized meaning that when an individual is accused of committing a sex crime, he or she is typically judged as guilty as soon as he or she is arrested.

At Lawson and Berry, we understand that this is not always the case. In fact, more people are wrongly accused of sex crimes than we would like to believe. If you have been arrested in the state of Georgia, contact our lawyers now.