A Clayton County jury convicted a fourth man for trafficking a 15-year-old girl for sex, the state attorney general said Tuesday.
Theodore Browne Jr., 31, was found guilty on four counts of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude and one count of cruelty to children in the first degree following a five-day trial, the attorney general said. Three others, including two buyers and a seller, were previously sentenced for selling a girl for sex in 2018.
“Theodore Browne Jr. sold a young girl for sex, and now he is facing the consequences of his illegal actions,” Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement. “This outcome follows years of work by our human trafficking prosecution unit as we continued to pour over every lead in our pursuit of justice for this victim. Let this serve as a lesson for those who seek to abuse and exploit Georgia’s children — you will be identified, vigorously pursued and aggressively prosecuted.”
Browne’s sentencing is scheduled for March 29.
During an interview in 2019, the victim told investigators she was sold for sex by Browne and Christopher Weldon over a period of several months in 2018. Investigators then sought suspects accused of purchasing the teenager for sex, Carr previously said. Daniel Horne of Stockbridge and Gregory Michael Benoit of Marietta were identified as suspects.
According to investigators, the victim was sexually trafficked out of two hotels in Clayton County, where Browne and Weldon rented rooms and arranged for buyers to purchase the girl for sex.
On July 25, Weldon pleaded guilty to one count each of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude and statutory rape. He was sentenced to 25 years, with the first 15 to be served in prison. Then on Aug. 26, Benoit pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude and was sentenced to 15 years, with the first five to be served in prison.
In February, Horne was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison.
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