GREENVILLE, N.C. – A teenager is dead from an apparent drug overdose after police say a man held the girl against her will so she could work as a prostitute.
Anthony Cox was taken into custody Tuesday by the Greenville Police Department. He’s been charged with human trafficking, sexual servitude of a child, promoting prostitution, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and statutory rape of a child.
Police were called just before 10:00 a.m. Tuesday to the Baymont Inn on South Memorial Drive for an apparent overdose, WITN reported.
Investigation revealed the girl, who had turned 16 on December 7, had been in an ongoing relationship with the 21-year-old man, according to police. Arrest warrants say Cox told the girl they “needed the money to live off of.”
Human Trafficking advocates in the area say this is all too common among young girls.
“We have had a misrepresentation of what human trafficking looks like. I think a lot of people have this vision of trafficking being that white van that shows up at target or Walmart or is parked on the side of the street and you don’t recognize that car and people are afraid of being abducted. Where some of those things may happen, that’s not the case. These are people that somebody trusted.”
– Liz Liles, Founder & CEO of Daughters of Worth
