2 Convicted In Human Trafficking Unit's First Trial: Carr

COBB COUNTY, GA — A Cobb County jury found two people guilty of sex trafficking a 16-year-old girl, and now they face up to 40 years in prison.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr's Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit obtained the guilty verdict Sept. 24, which was the unit's first trial, his office announced in a news release Friday. Keron Hamilton and Meyetta King-Brown were convicted on two counts each of trafficking persons for sexual servitude.

On Oct. 12, 2017, Hamilton and King-Brown took a 16-year-old girl to a hotel on Interstate Parkway North in Cobb County. They arranged for her to perform sex acts with a man who they were communicating with over an online chat app, according to the AG's office — but that man was an undercover officer working as part of an operation between the Cobb County Police Department and the FBI's MATCH Task Force.

Hamilton and King-Brown, who were found at a nearby gas station, told police they were "only giving the minor a ride and had no knowledge of her activities that night," the release said. The prosecution unit presented evidence from a 2016 DeKalb County case in which the codefendants had similarly transported a 15-year-old girl in circumstances that indicated human trafficking was likely occurring.

Hamilton and King-Brown each face charges of harboring and providing a person under the age of 18 for sexual servitude, and transporting a person under the age of 18 for sexual servitude. The trial lasted two weeks and the defendants are scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 8.

“This result shows the state of Georgia’s commitment to protect children from exploitation. We thank the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, Cobb County Police Department, the FBI and the Cobb County jury for their work in this case,” Carr said in the release. “This is a historic win for Georgia and we are sending a message to buyers and traffickers that you will be stopped and held accountable for these wicked acts.”

The maximum punishment for these crimes for each defendant is 40 years in prison under the 2017 sentencing guidelines. Today, these crimes carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.