A Fulton County mother accused of selling her two young daughters to be raped for money entered a guilty plea Friday, the same day the man accused of raping them was convicted on multiple counts of child molestation.
The mother of the girls, a 25-year-old Union City woman, pleaded guilty to multiple charges in connection with the reported abuse of her two daughters, including two counts of first degree cruelty to children, two counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, and two counts of trafficking a person for sexual servitude. It is the policy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to not identify victims of sexual assault. The AJC is not identifying the mother in order to protect the identity of the children.
The man she is accused of selling the girls to, 78-year-old Richard Office of Union City, has been convicted of rape, trafficking a person for sexual servitude, two counts of child molestation and three counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, as well as marijuana possession and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Office was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 146 years. The girls’ mother is scheduled to be sentenced June 4.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said while the girls’ mother was detained in a Bay County, Florida jail on a separate charge, the two girls, ages 5 and 6, told their temporary legal guardians that their mother had taken them to men’s homes where they were sexually assaulted for money. They knew one of these men, later identified as Office, as someone who supplied their mother with drugs, the DA said.
The DA said early in 2017, Office, whom the girls knew as “Pop,” touched them and kissed them inappropriately in the bedroom of his Palmetto home while their mother waited in the living room. After molesting them, Office reportedly gave the girls $100, and their mother took the money from them. The DA said the younger of the two girls was injured in the assault.
A second man, Alfredo Trejo, was previously convicted in February in Fulton County for raping the girls in the same manner. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison followed by life on probation.
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“The impact that this ongoing sexual abuse had on those children is tragic, and we are grateful that the jury held the defendant accountable for his depraved conduct,” said chief senior district attorney Irina Khasin, who prosecuted the case.
The victims’ grandmother was also convicted of second degree cruelty to children for failing to protect the sisters after they told her they were being sexually assaulted. Her five-year sentence was commuted to the time that she had already served, with the remainder to be served on probation. The AJC is not naming the grandmother in order to avoid identifying the children.
“It is difficult to imagine facts that are more horrific than those found in this case,” said District Attorney Paul Howard. “I am hoping these two little girls can somehow survive this abuse and grow into healthy adults who can lead a productive and fulfilling life.”
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