A joint investigation conducted by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit has led to the arrest of Anthony Holmes, a 32-year-old resident of Cleveland, Ohio.
Holmes is facing multiple charges, including Human Trafficking, for allegedly transporting a 16-year-old girl from South Carolina to various locations in the metro Atlanta area for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation.
The teenage victim, who had been reported as a missing runaway from Ohio, was identified by the FBI and South Carolina authorities as a human trafficking victim.
Holmes, accompanied by another female adult, allegedly transported the victim from South Carolina to Atlanta, where her exploitation continued.
The arrest took place on August 4, after a GBI agent obtained a warrant for Holmes. Following his arrest, he was booked into the Greene County Jail.
The investigation began when Greene County Sheriff’s Office deputies encountered Holmes, the victim, and the adult woman during a routine highway interception effort in the Greensboro area on August 2. While attempting to stop Holmes’ vehicle for an equipment violation, he fled, prompting a pursuit involving deputies from the Taliaferro County Sheriff’s Office.
Holmes was ultimately immobilized through a pit maneuver.
Law enforcement officers grew suspicious of the situation upon observing multiple red flags indicating the teenager was being trafficked for sexual purposes. As a result, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office sought assistance from the GBI’s HEAT Unit to further investigate the matter. Subsequent findings revealed that Holmes had trafficked the victim to multiple locations around Atlanta.
In addition to the charge of Human Trafficking, Holmes currently faces several other charges, including fleeing and eluding, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and various traffic-related offenses.
The investigation remains active and ongoing, with the possibility of more charges being brought against Holmes in due course. Once the investigation concludes, the case will be forwarded to the Georgia Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Unit for prosecution.
Human Trafficking in Georgia: According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, Georgia consistently ranks among the top states in the United States for reported cases of human trafficking. From January to December 2020, a total of 267 cases of human trafficking were reported in the state. These cases involved a range of forms of trafficking, including both sex trafficking and labor trafficking.
Of the reported cases, approximately 77% involved sex trafficking, while the remaining 23% were related to labor trafficking. The majority of sex trafficking victims were identified as females, while labor trafficking victims were equally distributed between males and females. Law enforcement agencies in Georgia have been actively working to combat human trafficking, resulting in a significant increase in the identification and reporting of cases in recent years.
It is important to note that these statistics likely represent only a fraction of the actual number of human trafficking cases in Georgia, as many instances of trafficking go undetected or unreported. Efforts to raise awareness and improve identification and support for victims continue to be crucial in combating this serious issue in the state.
