A Stone Mountain man along with a pair of brothers face charges of child sex trafficking in a three-state operation, authorities said Wednesday.
Jaime Adam Riano, 29, is accused of helping run the ring, which victimized at least five girls, ages 16 and 17, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta. Hernandez Acosta, 26, of Dalton, and brother Alvarez Acosta, 31, of Tampa, Fla., face the same charges.
“These men allegedly preyed on vulnerable young girls by sexually exploiting them for quick money,” U.S. Attorney John Horn said in a news release. “This case highlights the danger that lurks on social media sites, where the defendants allegedly pursued some of the child victims.”
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Hernandez Acosta allegedly pursued some of the girls on Facebook, got provocative pictures of them and posted them on Backpage.com. The site is known for ads for prostitution, police say.
Hernandez Acosta gave them fake names and advertised them as legal age, Horn said.
The Acostas and Riano allegedly conspired to have the girls taken through Georgia, Florida and Tennesee to have sex with men.
“The defendants operated a high-volume, low-cost business, requiring the young girls to have sex with multiple men each night and kept nearly all of the money they earned,” a news release said.
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