Gwinnett man charged with trafficking children for sex, labor

A Dacula man has been charged this week with trafficking two female children for sexual purposes, warrants show.

Gene Wendell Lay, 42, is facing charges of human trafficking for labor servitude and human trafficking for sexual servitude. He has also been charged with two counts each of aggravated child molestation, false imprisonment and enticing a child for indecent purposes.

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Lay forced one of the girls to perform oral sex on him and made the other girl watch, according to warrants obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The incident occurred after midnight at a La Quinta Inn in Norcross on June 30.

Warrants allege that Lay kept the girls in the hotel room for seven hours against their will. The ages of the victims are not given in the warrants, just that they are both under 16 years old.

Lay was arrested by Gwinnett County sheriff’s deputies on Monday. He is being held without bond at the Gwinnett County Detention Center.

Gwinnett County police did not release additional information about this case, including Lay’s relationship with the girls or how they came to be in the Norcross hotel room.

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