Cobb detective details sex trafficking of 15-year-old girl who escaped

Detective Mark Erion said Kenneth Thomas, the 22-year-old ringleader of the sex trafficking operation, threatened to kill the girl if she told anyone.

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“If she stole anything, she would be shot, and if she left and told the police, Mr. Thomas was willing to go to jail for murder,” Erion told the court.

The girl escaped the morning of Monday, Aug. 20, and called 911 from a restaurant near the motel.

According to the warrant, the four suspects advertised her online as an escort, and she was paid $80 each time.

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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported the charges: Thomas, of Fairburn, was charged with keeping a place of prostitution, pimping and trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude. Kamari Bolden, 22, of Atlanta, was charged with trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude. Laura Waugh, 17, of Marietta, was charged with giving a false name and date of birth and trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude. Douglas White, 26, of Dallas, was charged with pimping and trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude.

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The detective said Bolden brought her 4-year-old daughter to the Days Inn on Northwest Parkway, which is the alleged crime scene.

“Kamari and her daughter stayed in room 217. That’s where other people would go and hang out, and wait until a customer came,” Erion said.

According to Magistrate Court records from the Wednesday proceeding, the case was escalated to Superior Court where the trial will presumably take place.