Gwinnett CEO paid for child sex, police say

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By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The CEO of an Atlanta data security company was arrested this week after a teen prostitute told police the man paid to have sex with her when she was just 12 years old.

Gwinnett County Police Department Reflex Security CEO Peter Privateer was charged after police said he paid for sex with a child prostitute.

Cobb County Jail Marcelo Desautu is charged with child molestation, pimping and other charges.

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Police say Reflex Security CEO Peter Privateer, 56, was among alleged pimp Marcelo Desautu's clients. Desautu, facing multiple felonies, including child molestation, has been in Cobb County Jail since Aug. 2009. A corroborating witness confirmed to investigators the two men had sex with the barely pubescent girl in March 2008 at a Days Inn on Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth.

The teen identified Privateer from a photo line-up compiled by Cobb police, who initiated the investigation after the girl came to them with her story. She identified Privateer as "Pete."

According to the Gwinnett report, the victim was able to provide "specific details regarding multiple incidents" in which she was forced to have sex with men.

Privateer "vigorously denies the allegations," his attorney, Eric Crawford, said in a statement.

"It appears that the police may have acted prematurely on information from witnesses with long criminal histories, with no physical evidence, and from individuals who think they may be able to profit by leveling these accusations at a prominent businessman, to say nothing of waiting almost three years after the crime allegedly occurred to make a report," Crawford said.

Telephone records obtained by police indicate that Desautu and Privateer were in contact "on several different occasions," including the weekend of the encounter at the Days Inn. Investigators also acquired a receipt for the room signed by Desautu.

Crawford told the AJC his client does not know the alleged pimp. "He doesn't really know where this is coming from," Privateer's attorney said.

The victim confessed to police she had sex with Privateer and Desautu and received one-third of the $600 paid by the suspect. Desautu, facing charges in Gwinnett County as well, also compensated her with drugs, the girl told investigators.

Privateer, who lives in a $1.3 million home in tony Sugarloaf Country Club, is being held without bond in Gwinnett County Jail, charged with felony child molestation. A bond hearing is scheduled for Nov. 18, Crawford said.

According to a bio on his company's website, Privateer, married with three adult children, has held executive positions at several security technology companies, including IBM. He co-founded Axent Technologies, one of the first Internet security software companies.

A spokesperson for the company has not yet responded to a request for comment.