Over the weekend, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced that Virginia Ann Bates, 37, of Forest Park, had been arrested and charged with Trafficking of Persons for Sexual Servitude and Pimping following an investigation conducted by the office’s new Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
According to a press release from Carr’s office, Bates is alleged to have knowingly “harbored and provided a 16-year-old female and an adult female to sex buyers in DeKalb County. Bates is further alleged to have collected a portion of the financial proceeds from the commercial sex acts of both victims.”
“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 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.”
The Georgia Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit was founded in 2019 with the support of Governor Brian Kemp, First Lady Marty Kemp and leaders in the Georgia General Assembly. The organization is a 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 convictions since January 2023,” the press release said. “The Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit has 36 defendants who are currently under indictment for sex or labor trafficking, with some facing charges in multiple jurisdictions around the state.”