Authorities rescued a little girl who was tricked and taken from her Texas home to Tennessee for a sex trade.
"It's beyond what many can wrap their heads around," said Margie Quin, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's special agent in charge on human trafficking.
"I know it's shocking for the public that a 12-year-old is rescued from sex trafficking in Tennessee," said Quin.
Quin said the child was reported missing in San Antonio, Texas back in June. She was then driven to Tennessee where she ended up in an extended stay hotel in Franklin, Tennessee.
For the next six weeks Quin said the girl "...was advertised as a woman to have sex for money."
"It's the first case we've made or hope to make on a child this young," said Quin.
A tip led TBI agents, U.S. Marshals, Williamson County deputies and police to the hotel Friday night. There, they rescued the little girl and arrested 36-year-old Tavarie Williams of Nashville.
He's accused of taking her from Texas and selling her. "Immediately she said thank you so much for coming to rescue me. I'm so glad you're here," said Quin.
Quin said there's evidence Williams beat the girl. Doctors will test her for STDs, and she will begin therapy and counseling.
The child will return home, but what happened in that hotel room will stay with her for the rest of her life.
Officials' next step is to track down anyone else who may have assisted in the abduction and track anyone who paid to have sex with the child.
Quin said the victim's young age is disheartening, but sadly, wasn't surprising.
The TBI is seeing younger and younger girls used in sex trafficking. They said the key to stopping it is tips from the alert public.
