Gwinnett Man Sentenced For Pimping 14-Year-Old Girl

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — A Gwinnett County man has been sentenced to prison for pimping a 14-year-old girl he met after she ran away from home.

Kwabena Bomani Higgins, 33, pleaded guilty on Friday to trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, pimping, enticing a child for indecent purposes and statutory rape.

He was sentenced to eight years to serve in prison and another 12 years probation. When he's released, he may have no contact with his young victim and must register as a sex offender.

According to testimony and court records, the 14-year-old victim ran away from her DeKalb County home in January 2015 and met Higgins shortly afterward.

Higgins and another man brought her to the Congress Hotel and Suites in Norcross, where they advertised her for sex on the internet and gave her a cellphone and script to follow.

Higgins and the other man arranged for the victim to engage in multiple acts of prostitution and kept the money for themselves.

One time, when the victim said she wanted to leave, Higgins pulled out a gun and forced himself on her sexually. They eventually let the victim go, but then convinced her to return with both the lure of money and threats of further violence.

Eventually, she was taken to a hospital, where she told workers what had happened to her. DeKalb, Gwinnett and federal law enforcement authorities began an investigation and captured Higgins and the other man.

Prosecutors say that, after a witness testified against Higgins in a pre-trial hearing, Higgins called him a snitch and threatened to put a hit on him, causing the witness to refuse to testify at trial.

But that witness's testimony was still provided to the jury — during which Higgins ended the trial by pleading guilty. In exchange for his pleading guilty on the other charges, prosecutors agreed to drop a rape charge against Higgins.

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