Crime & Safety

Man Sent to Prison for Soliciting Sex From Minor

A 44-year-old father of two was sentenced in a Douglas County courtroom Monday after he admitted to soliciting sex from an underage transgender minor on Craigslist.

A 44-year-old father of two was sentenced Monday after he admitted to soliciting sex from an underage transgender minor on Craigslist, according to Douglas County District Attorney David McDade in a press release.

Superior Court Judge David T. Emerson sentenced Eric Lamar Stovall, of Douglasville, to five years in prison on the charge of pandering. Following his release from prison, Stovall will serve an additional 10 years on probation. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

Authorities from the Douglas County Sherriff’s Office uncovered emails from Stovall responding to Craigslist advertisements for sexual services during their investigation of Steven Lemery and Christopher Lynch. Both men were convicted last year of operating a human trafficking ring outside Lemery’s Douglasville home. Lynch received a 30-year sentence, the first 14 years of which are required to be served in custody, after pleading guilty to pimping a victim under the age of 18, sexual exploitation of children and pandering. Lemery was sentenced to 80 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of human trafficking, aggravated child molestation, pandering and enticing a child for indecent purposes.

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“People like Mr. Stovall are the reason this victim was in the position he was in,” said Assistant District Attorney Rachel Ackley, who previously prosecuted Lynch and Lemery on behalf of the State. “Without people paying for these services, the two defendants would not have a business.”

Their business, according to Ackley, involved Lynch and Lemery forcing males as young as 15-years-old to have sexual relations with clients who had responded to their advertisements. One of those clients was Stovall, who replied to prostitution advertisements placed on Craigslist over a two-month stretch in 2010. The emails, which were discovered by Investigator Jay Hayes, revealed negotiations between Lynch and Stovall centered around the sexual services of a minor.

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In the emails, Stovall discussed the price for the services and provided turn-by-turn directions to his house on Robinwood Trail in Douglasville. Those turn-by-turn directions led Inv. Hayes straight to the front door of Stovall, the only adult living at the residence.


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