Eleven arrested in Cartersville Internet prostitution sting | News

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Eleven people were arrested in an internet prostitution bust at a Cartersville hotel. 

According to Cartersville Police Department spokesperson Lt. M.E. Bettikofer, the undercover operation was conducted on Friday in an effort to "curtail sex trafficking, theft, and drug-related incidents surrounding this type of crime". 

Charges were filed against eleven people caught in that operation:

• Rodney Daniels: Pandering, Probation Violation- Baldwin County
• Randy Steely: Sexual Battery
• Julio Pinal: Pandering, Solicitation of Sodomy
• Quinton Wood: Pandering
• Satya Nadupalli: Pandering
• Donald Zirkelbach: Pandering
• Kendall Greeson: Masturbation for Hire
• Billy Keadle: Solicitation of Sodomy
• Darrin Munday: Pandering, Solicitation of Sodomy
• William Teems: Pandering
• Fernando Heredia: Pandering, Solicitation of Sodomy

MUG SHOTS | March 2016 Cartersville sex trafficking bust

It's the latest in a series of sex-trafficking busts in Metro Atlanta. The GBI estimates sex trafficking is a $300 million a year illegal industry in Georgia.  In June 2014, seventy-one Georgians were arrested in a nationwide bust and charged with federal crimes. In February 2015, neighbors were shocked when a SWAT members descended on a DeKalb County apartment to rescue two teens who were victims of sex trafficking. In October 2015, a similar sex-trafficking operation rescued seven Georgia kids and arrested nine pimps. 

MUG SHOTS | Oct. 2015 sex trafficking bust

As the heightened number of arrests battles to put criminals behind bars, Metro Atlanta communities are finding new ways to fight sex trafficking in their own communities. The Atlanta airport posted signs with hotline numbers and other resources for victims. Volunteers are working with groups like Out of Darkness to offer women a way out of forced prostitution. 

The National Human Trafficking Resource Center offers help at 1-888-373-7888. The hotline is anonymous, open 24 hours a day, and available in 170 languages.

PHOTOS | Other mug shots