ATLANTA — Georgia's Attorney General Sam Olens announced that his office is hiring a new sex trafficking prosecutor to battle the growing problem of child exploitation in the state.
"Everyone talks about the sellers, but you've got to stop the demand from the buyers," Olens told Channel 2's Rachel Stockman.
"When I was 11-years-old, my neighbor crumpled up $20 and he placed it in my hand,' said Dorsey Jones, a former child sex trafficking victim. "I even had one guy buy me a box of cereal and some milk, and then I had one guy that would give me ice cream sandwiches out of his freezer once he got through having sex with me."
Advocates say the demand for child prostitutes continues to grow in Georgia.
"The Urban Institute shows that Atlanta has one of the highest rates of demand in the country for prostituted children," said Jennifer Swain with YouthSpark, an advocacy group.
Swain says that's where Georgia is falling short -- going after the demand.
"We've got some good laws on the books for pimps, but it's time now that we show that it is not OK to buy and you won't be able to keep a secret," Swain said.
As part of the state's strategy to stamp out the demand, Olens hired the state's first human sex trafficking prosecutor, Camila Wright.
Wright is currently the head of the Human Trafficking Unit at the Fulton County District Attorney's Office. She begins next week.
Swain says it is a step in the right direction.
"These are people that walk and talk among us and they've got a dirty little secret. Now it is time for that to stop," said Swain.
Dorsey Jones is also author of "Stretched Beyond Measure: When The Angels Were Crying," where she exposed the shame and pain of child exploitation.
WSBTV
