Police charge man with human trafficking after 16-year-old girl dies of apparent OD

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - A teenager is dead from an apparent drug overdose after police say a man held the girl against her will so she could be a prostitute.

Anthony Cox was nabbed Tuesday by Greenville Police and 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 a.m. Tuesday to the Baymont Inn on South Memorial Drive for an apparent overdose.

Police say the girl, who had turned 16 on Dec. 7, had been in an ongoing relationship with the 21-year-old man. 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.

The warrants say the man recruited the teen with the “intent that the victim be held in involuntary sexual servitude”. It says the two had sexual relations when the girl was 15 years old.

The court documents say Cox compelled the girl to become a prostitute and that he received a portion of the earnings.

An autopsy to determine how the victim died is scheduled for this week, while Cox is being held on a $3 million bond.

For the number to the Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888.

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