Tavarie Anthony Williams
Special agents in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Human Trafficking Unit, working alongside local and federal partners, have arrested and charged a Nashville man accused of trafficking a 12-year-old from Texas for the purposes of commercial sex.
On Friday evening, the TBI received information from the U.S. Marshals Service about the possible whereabouts of a Texas child reported missing a month ago.
After developing more specific information about the child’s whereabouts in the Nashville area, authorities from the U.S. Marshals, TBI, Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Franklin Police Department recovered the child in the overnight hours at an extended stay hotel in Franklin, where she was being held against her will by a man identified as Tavarie Anthony Williams. Further investigation revealed, that in June, Williams enticed the girl in San Antonio, Tx., by offering her a ride home, only to bring her to Tennessee, where he trafficked the child for the purposes of commercial sex.
On Saturday, a TBI special agent arrested Williams and charged the 36-year-old with two counts of Trafficking for a Commercial Sex Act, a Class A felony. He was subsequently booked into the Williamson County Jail on $150,000 bond.
The investigation remains active and ongoing with the potential for additional charges. The child, who thanked law enforcement when they rescued her, is receiving care in state custody and will soon be transported home to Texas.
More information about the issue of human trafficking, along with Tennessee’s efforts to hold traffickers accountable and empower the public to recognize the warning signs can be found online at www.ITHasToStop.com.