A Georgia woman faces a human trafficking charge after being accused of moving two teenage girls through Atlanta to Alabama for the purposes of prostitution.
Marlette Lychelle Smith, 26, of Rome, was arrested in Homewood, Alabama, last Saturday, according to a news release by local police. Homewood police announced the arrest Tuesday, which left Smith in jail on a $1 million bond.
Homewood police Sgt. John Carr wrote in the release that investigators were tipped off June 3 that two girls, ages 15 and 16, were possible victims of human trafficking. The two girls are from California, he said.
The teens were found at a hotel near Oxmoor Road, where they were rescued and taken to a local victim advocacy agency, the release said.
Officers and FBI agents determined they had been trafficked from Memphis to Alabama and then to Homewood, which is a suburb of Birmingham.
Smith was identified as the suspect, leading to her arrest on a first-degree human trafficking charge. She remains in the Jefferson County, Alabama, jail.
No other information has been released.
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