A Clayton County man pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and will spend two years in prison, the state attorney general said Monday.
Daniel Horne, 30, is the third person to be convicted as part of this ongoing case, according to Attorney General Chris Carr. Another defendant’s case is still pending. Two buyers and one seller have now been sentenced for selling a 15-year-old girl for sex in 2018.
“When we first opened this case, our Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit pledged to bring every offender involved to justice, and this outcome brings us one step closer to fulfilling that commitment,” Carr said in a statement. “Our work is not done, and we will keep fighting to ensure that all those who engaged in the trafficking of this underage victim are held accountable for their actions. All Georgians deserve to be safe, and we will continue to use all resources at our disposal to protect our state’s most vulnerable citizens.”
During an interview in 2019, the victim told investigators she was sold for sex by Theodore Browne Jr. and Christopher Weldon over a period of several months in 2018. Investigators then sought suspects accused of purchasing the teenager for sex, Carr said. Horne, of Stockbridge, and Gregory Michael Benoit, 27, 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, 2022, 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. Benoit was identified as a buyer in the case: someone who purchases a victim for sex.
The case against Browne remains active, Carr’s office said.
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