The Georgia Attorney General’s Office says the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) and Hall County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) are among several law enforcement agencies that helped with a human trafficking case out of Hart County.
Though the help they provided was not spelled out in a news release from the AG’s office, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office says the suspect was housed at the Hall County Jail until Hart County authorities picked him up. Gainesville Police, she said, had arrested him at the Gainesville hospital.
GEORGIA ATTORNEY GENERAL NEWS RELEASE:
“Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr today announced that Reed Cohen Skelton, 26, of Bowersville, has been convicted of trafficking a 16-year-old female in Fulton County. Skelton, who is a former ICU nurse, communicated with the victim using social media apps, including Snapchat, before trafficking her months later.
“This is the disturbing reality that we’re seeing online, where traffickers are targeting our children for abuse and exploitation,” said Carr. “Whether it’s Snapchat or Roblox or any other app, child predators will find a way to communicate with their next victim, and we’re doing everything in our power to stop them. Our team is on the ground leading this fight, and we won’t rest until every child is safe and every trafficker is brought to justice.”
This case was prosecuted by former Assistant Attorney General Kaitlyn (Fain) Salinas and Assistant Attorney General Claire Anderson of the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
It was investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s (GBI) Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, the Cobb County Police Department, and the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, with assistance from the Gainesville Police Department, the Hart County Sheriff’s Office, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, and Georgia State Patrol.
Case Summary
Skelton initiated online contact with the victim and continued to communicate with her for several months – requesting and sending sexually explicit content to the minor.
Following this online communication, Skelton traveled to Cobb County to pick up the 16-year-old in November 2024. He then transported the victim to a hotel in Fulton County, where he rented a room and engaged in commercial sex with the minor. He also created and possessed digital files of the act with the minor. In exchange, Skelton paid the victim $500.
Conviction and Sentencing
On Feb. 12, 2026, Reed Cohen Skelton pleaded guilty to the following charges:
- 2 counts of Trafficking of Persons for Sexual Servitude
- 1 count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor
Skelton was sentenced to 25 years, with the first 10 years to be served in prison and the remainder on strict probation. He is also required to register as a sex offender.
Skelton surrendered his nursing license as part of his guilty plea.”