South Fulton police have arrested a man on sex trafficking and a host of other charges after an 11-year-old girl was reported missing last week.
The child, who has since been located, was reported missing Friday after leaving her home, officials said. Following her disappearance, she was spotted at a Publix shopping center on Campbellton Road, but was gone by the time officers arrived, city spokesman Gary Leftwich told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Police continued their search over the weekend, but said she wasn’t found until Tuesday when a tip led authorities to a home where she was reportedly being held.
“Detectives were searching for the girl at a hotel on Campbellton Road when they received a tip that a man working at an area restaurant was the last person to see the victim,” Leftwich said.
Police visited the restaurant and spoke with the man, identified as 30-year-old Ernest Mack. He reportedly gave detectives an address that led them to the girl, who has since been reunited with her family, authorities said.
Mack was arrested on several felony charges, including child molestation, statutory rape, trafficking a person for sexual servitude, child cruelty and enticing a child for indecent purposes, online records show. Authorities have not said how he met the girl or how long he had known her. No additional details were released.
Mack remained at the Fulton County Jail on Thursday evening without bond, according to online records.
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