ATLANTA — The Georgia Attorney General’s Office announced Friday that a Forest Park woman was arrested in connection to a human trafficking investigation.
The Attorney General’s Office said Virginia Ann Bates, 37, of Forest Park, has been arrested and charged with trafficking of persons for sexual servitude and pimping following an investigation conducted by the office’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
The Attorney General’s Office said Bates is alleged to have knowingly harbored and provided a 16-year-old girl and an adult woman to sex buyers in DeKalb County.
Bates is also alleged to have collected a portion of the financial proceeds from the commercial sex acts of both victims, a Friday press release stated.
“As we have said from the very beginning — anyone who is engaged in the sexual exploitation of a child will be held accountable for their actions,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “We will not rest in our efforts to protect our most vulnerable Georgians, and we will continue to fight against human trafficking in every corner of our state.”
A DeKalb County Magistrate Court judge issued arrest warrants for Virginia Bates on Feb. 29.
Bates was taken into custody on March 25 with help from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team, the Forest Park Police Department and the Clayton County Police Department.
The Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit will prosecute the case.
About the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit
In 2019, with the support of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, First Lady Marty Kemp andGeorgia General Assembly leaders, Carr created the first-of-its-kind statewide Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
Last year, the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit rescued and assisted 129 victims.
The Unit has obtained 32 new…
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