Omar Stoute

VALDOSTA — An Albany man has been arrested on human-trafficking charges stemming from two young women being forced into prostitution at a Valdosta motel, according to the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday.

Both women have been rescued and reunited with their families, according to authorities.

At approximately 5:30 p.m. Monday, investigators with the sheriff’s Special Operations Division conducted a sting at America’s Best Value Inn, 1828 W. Hill Ave.

“The investigators were working on a prostitution case when they realized what was afoot,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Stryde Jones. “Some great investigative work, doing interviews and collecting information, led them to identifying a human-trafficking suspect.”

Omar Stoute, 26, of Albany was arrested and charged with two counts of human trafficking as a result of the operation, according to incident reports.

Stoute allegedly brought the women to the motel under the threat of violence for the purpose of prostitution, according to LCSO.    

“They were victims. They had been threatened that if they did not do certain things that they would be assaulted. They were under duress,” said Jones. “In each instance, Omar Stoute would facilitate encounters between the teens and ‘Johns’ and then take the money.”

One of the victims was a 17-year-old from Florida who was a ward of the state. An alert had been issued for authorities to be on the lookout for her after she left a foster home. The other victim was a 20-year-old from Savannah. Both women have been reunited with family and friends, said Jones.

“Although prostitution is a nuisance and against the law, our focus is getting to the source of the problem, and that would be the people bringing them here for prostitution,” said Jones.

The sheriff’s office has seen an increase in the human-trafficking aspect of prostitution cases in Lowndes County, said Jones.

“A lot of these young ladies are in bad or unfortunate situations, and they think they are in a predicament that they can’t get out of,” said Jones. “These girls were participating under the threat of violence. By removing and arresting (the suspect), we were able to reunite them with their friends and family, and that might not have happened otherwise.”