Attorney General Chris Carr announced that the office’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit has opened a new case in DeKalb County against a male-female pair currently awaiting trial on separate human trafficking charges in Fulton County. Specifically, the Unit has taken new arrest warrants for Courdale Thayer and Jahaundria Seabron after identifying a 16-year-old victim who the defendants are alleged to have trafficked in December 2020 in DeKalb County. In another case brought by the Unit, Thayer and Seabron were previously arrested and indicted for charges involving a 14-year-old victim in Fulton County. The Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit now has two cases against Thayer and Seabron – one involving the 16-year-old victim in DeKalb County and one involving the 14-year-old victim in Fulton County.
“Even after making the initial arrests and securing an indictment in our case out of Fulton County, our investigators have not stopped working to identify every victim that may have been sold for sex by these two individuals,” said Carr.
“While we are heavily focused on getting traffickers off the street, we are also deeply committed to ensuring that we recover and help every victim within our reach. This latest development is a direct result of SB 394, which provides our investigators with the tools needed to arrest human traffickers and rescue victims – tools we continue to put to use each and every day.”
In 2020, the General Assembly passed and Governor Brian Kemp signed into law Senate Bill 394, which provides the Attorney General’s investigators with the law enforcement authority necessary to arrest human traffickers and rescue victims of human trafficking.
Initial Arrests Made
In late 2021, Courdale Thayer and Jahaundria Seabron were arrested following an extensive 10-month investigation that led to the rescue of a 14-year-old female victim. The Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit initiated its investigation after reviewing an alert issued by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. From this alert, Chief Human Trafficking Investigator Bryan Kimbell was able to identify, locate and rescue the underage female. The victim had been missing from the College Park area for approximately seven weeks at the time of her recovery in February 2021.
Initial Indictment Secured in Fulton County
In January 2022, Courdale Thayer and Jahaundria Seabron were indicted on charges including human trafficking, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and cruelty to children in the first degree. Thayer and Seabron are currently awaiting trial in this particular case.
New Arrest Warrants Taken
Following the arrest of Courdale Thayer and Jahaundria Seabron, Chief Human Trafficking Investigator Bryan Kimbell, Investigator Jason Arsenault, and Investigator Frances Reyes continued with their investigation. This led to the discovery of additional potential victims who were identified only by an image and a nickname.
From this continuing investigation, Chief Human Trafficking Investigator Bryan Kimbell, Investigator Jason Arsenault, and Investigator Frances Reyes identified and interviewed a 16-year-old female – the victim related to the new charges and arrest warrants.
The new DeKalb County arrest warrants involve allegations against Courdale Thayer and Jahaundria Seabron from December 2020.
Efforts to identify each and every potential victim continue to this day.
Summary of New Charges in DeKalb County
Included below is a summary of the new charges against Courdale Thayer and Jahaundria Seabron in DeKalb County.
Courdale Thayer and Jahaundria Seabron:
- Did unlawfully and knowingly subject or maintain another person, a 16-year-old child, in sexual servitude or knowingly recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, solicit, patronize, or obtain by any means any victim for the purpose of sexual servitude; charged with one count of Trafficking Persons for Sexual Servitude, O.C.G.A. § 16-5-46(c).
If convicted, they each face a maximum penalty of a life sentence.
The South Fulton Police Department assisted in this arrest.
About the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit
In 2019, with the help of Governor Brian Kemp, Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp and leaders in the Georgia General Assembly, Attorney General Chris Carr created the first-of-its-kind statewide Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
In 2021, the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit initiated 25 cases, arrested nine individuals, investigated and prosecuted 51 defendants, and rescued and assisted 107 victims.
During the 2022 legislative session, Carr secured additional resources to expand the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit and rescue even more victims.
*Members of the public should keep in mind that arrest warrants contain only allegations against the individual against whom the arrest is made. The individual in custody is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and it will be the government’s burden at trial to prove the individual guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the allegations contained in the arrest warrant.
