Police from Alpharetta and Johns Creek were looking for prostitutes in a May 11 sting, but they found a 17-year-old girl who said she was kidnapped from out of state.
Undercover officers set up three hotel rooms at the Wingate Inn on Kingswood Place in Alpharetta, then started looking through websites for escorts, according to the police report.
After finding an ad for “Rose,” an officer called for a meeting at the hotel. She agreed to spend up to an hour with the man for $260 and insisted he text a photo to prove he had actual money.
Undressing followed the introduction and exchange of money, the report’s narrative said. Then, the officer signaled for a “take down,” where Rose was arrested for soliciting sex.
That’s when she broke down and told the officer she wasn’t “Rose,” but a girl from North Carolina who had been driven to Georgia. She said “Little Booby” drove her from her home and to the hotel so she could “make some money.”
Whitney Bexley, with the Norcross-based non-profit “Street Grace” told Channel 2 Action News this case is a textbook example of the problem her organization is trying to fight.
Many times victims of child sex trafficking don’t realized they’re being exploited, Bexley said.
“A lot of times these kids identify with their pimps…as their family or their pimp is their boyfriend or the person who has shown them comfort, given them food, shelter, security, clothing,” Bexley told Channel 2. “Sometimes these kids have been brainwashed.”
The 22-year-old man known to “Rose” as “Little Booby” turned out to be Jamar Keante Girley, of Marietta. Detectives watching the parking lot found him in a car with 84 Xanax pills, known as “bars,” and $491 in small denominations often associated with drug dealing, according to the police report.
The 17-year-old led police to the Extended Stay America on Old Milton Parkway, where Girley and his girlfriend, 19-year-old Natasha Otero, had been staying.
Officers said they immediately smelled burnt marijuana when the hotel door opened and saw a five dollar bill covered with cocaine and a straw cut in half on a table.
The juvenile’s school identification and clothes were found in the room.
Bexley said her organization is trying to stop both the supply of children and the demand from those who exploit them.
“A lot of times these folks don’t know or care that it’s a child they’re purchasing. They’re just looking to purchase sex,” she said.
Police impounded the 2008 Ford Crown Victoria and confiscated the cellphones and cash.
The girl’s mother came from North Carolina to pick up her daughter, who was not charged in connection with the crimes.
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