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DECATUR, GA—DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston today (Sept. 11) announced the sentencing of two men accused of trafficking a young teen in exchange for rent money.
A jury found Algie Christian, 79, guilty on Trafficking of Persons for Sexual Servitude, Aggravated Sexual Battery, and Child Molestation. The jury also convicted Terrill Sanford, 42, of Trafficking of Persons for Sexual Servitude.
DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Tangela Barrie, who presided over the trial, sentenced Christian to Life in Prison, and Sanford to 50 years to serve 30 in custody and the remainder on probation.
According to the investigation, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department (DKPD) responded to a motel located in the 2500 block of Wesley Chappel Road in unincorporated Decatur on July 28, 2022. A security guard reported seeing a woman chasing a juvenile on the property. The woman appeared to be out of breath and shaking, so the guard called an ambulance.
The woman told first responders that she was chasing the girl because the juvenile was trying to run away from home.
After police interviewed the teen, she told them that she was being sexually abused by her “grandfather,” whom she identified as Algie Christian. She told police that she and the Sanfords previously lived with Christian in 2021, and while they were staying at his home, he would make her have sex with him. The abuse continued after they moved to the motel, where Christian was paying Sanford and the woman’s rent, as well as providing him with odd jobs through Christian’s home improvement business.
Further investigation linked both Christian and Sanford to the abuse.
The case, assigned to the Child Crimes Unit, was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Ashley Warmack, with assistance from Senior Assistant District Attorney Rachel Plevak, District Attorney Investigator Haley Hines and Victim Advocate Jenaiya Coleman. DeKalb County Police Department Detective G.R. Moore led the initial investigation.