Three people will serve lengthy prison sentences after pleading guilty to trafficking a 14-year-old girl for sex in February 2021, state officials said.
Raphel Olivia Sewer, 44, Courdale Thayer, 23, and Jahaundria Seabron, 27, each recently pleaded guilty to multiple counts related to trafficking and sexual abuse out of Fulton County, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced. Charges are still pending for a fourth person indicted in the case.
The teenager had been missing from the College Park area for about seven weeks before she was rescued, according to Carr’s office.
“Two years ago, our Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit set out to rescue a 14-year-old girl who went missing from College Park and had become a victim of sex trafficking,” Carr said in a statement. “Our successful recovery of this young woman led not only to the arrest and indictment of multiple individuals but to the identification of another underage victim whose case involves two of these same defendants.”
Seabron and Thayer have been convicted in that case, which involved a 16-year-old victim in DeKalb County. Seabron pleaded guilty in the DeKalb case earlier this year, and Thayer pleaded guilty to four counts of trafficking just this month. Both cases were taken on by Carr’s special unit.
Thayer was sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by 10 years on probation in both Fulton and DeKalb, with the sentences to be served concurrently, Carr said. Sewer and Seabron were sentenced to 18 years in prison followed by 12 years on probation in Fulton. Seabron was handed an identical sentence in DeKalb, and her sentences will also be served concurrently.
In addition to prison time and strict probation, Thayer, Seabron and Sewer will all be required to register as sex offenders, Carr said.
The case against the fourth defendant, Jody Netter of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, remains open, according to the AG’s office.
A tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led investigators to identify, locate and rescue the 14-year-old girl. Months later, the four were arrested on trafficking charges.
Netter and Sewer were accused of recruiting the girl into the trafficking scheme, while Thayer and Seabron sold her for sex, according to Carr’s office. In the course of the Fulton investigation, prosecutors found the 16-year-old victim in DeKalb and uncovered enough evidence to charge Thayer and Seabron in that case.
“This outcome is a testament to the resilience of our entire team as we continue our efforts to end the use and abuse of Georgia’s children,” Carr said.
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