A Dalton man is facing federal charges for allegedly forcing teenage girls to work as prostitutes.
Brian Hernandez Acosta, 26, was indicted in the U.S. District Court of North Georgia on April 11 on charges of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor, sex trafficking of a minor, and transportation of a minor for prostitution. A grand jury also indicted his brother, Nilageo Alvarez Acosta, 31, of Tampa, and 29-year-oldJaime Adam Riano on the same charges.
According to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Brian Acosta pursued teenage girls on Facebook and later posted provocative pictures of them on Backpage.com, a classified advertisement website, to solicit men to have sex with the girls for money. The posting listed fake names and listed their ages between 19-21 years old.
Brian Acosta and Nilageo Acosta also allegedly offered a 16-year-old Florida girl a place to live. Then, they drove her to Georgia and forced her to have sex for money. The men are accused of pocketing most of the money from their prostitutes.
"We are thankful for the work and success of all involved in this investigation that has ended the elaborate criminal enterprise these predators operated. The scope of their operation is a reminder that sex trafficking is a real danger for the young people in our communities," said Dalton Police Chief Jason Parker, whose agency helped the FBI on the case.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Murray County Sheriff's Office also helped, according to the release.