Community activists and local lawmakers got an eye-opening tour of metro Atlanta’s sex trafficking hot spots Wednesday night.
Organizers hoped to motivate those on board to take steps they say will save lives.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant was with the group as the bus rolled through some of metro Atlanta’s roughest neighborhoods over the course of two hours.
DeKalb County police officers, among others, were on board as those lawmakers got an eyeful.
Kasey McClure, a former exotic dancer and now minister, led the bus tour. She also runs 4Sarah, a nonprofit organization that seeks to empower adult entertainers to change their lives.
"So many people have turned a blind eye and just say it's not happening in our community, but it really is happening," McClure said.
So much so, Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols asked McClure and the team of volunteers from 4Sarah to take lawmakers and community leaders on a so-called "unholy tour" of prostitution and sex-trade hot spots in DeKalb and Fulton counties.
"In my heart I felt like, you know, this is something I could do, and I need to let people see that this is a blight on our state and our city," Echols said.
On Wednesday night's tour, freshman state Rep. Doreen Carter of Lithonia was on board.
"It's heartbreaking. I'm a mom, and this is my community,” Carter told Channel 2.
The troubling scenes are now motivating Carter to search for solutions.
"This definitely has touched me," Carter told Channel 2.
