MEMPHIS - Dec 20, 2019: Cobb pimp arrested GA sheriff claims

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A self-proclaimed pimp is in custody on his way back to Cobb County, where authorities claim he raped a woman and forced others into sexual servitude, according to the Cobb sheriff’s office.

Earnest Bernard Reed, 29, was apprehended in Tennessee on Wednesday by the Memphis Fugitive Unit of the United States Marshals Service, as stated in a news release from the Cobb sheriff’s office Friday.

Reed was charged in October with felony counts of rape and sex trafficking in Cobb, but fled Georgia to hide out at a friend’s place in Memphis, authorities claim.

“These charges are extremely serious and it is a great relief to have this predator off the streets,” Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren said in the news release. “Our participation in the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force has proven to be a great return on investment.”

Reed raped a woman in a room of the Days Inn by Wyndham Kennesaw, on Cobb Place Boulevard near the intersection of Interstate 75 and Ernest W Barrett Parkway, between Oct. 17 and 21, according to his arrest warrant.

He also forced women, some aged 16 and 18 years old, to have sex for money in the hotel room during those dates, police claim, saying they found victims advertised on “MegaPersonals” and “Skip the Games.”

“When your affiant met said victim at the hospital, she was so terrified that she would not exit the ambulance unless it was in the presence of a police officer,” Reed’s warrant states. “Said victim stated that said accused has multiple women that he trafficks, and he was trafficking another 18-year-old and 16-year-old. The hotel they were staying in canceled the final day of their stay due to concerns there was prostitution going on.”

The Cobb sheriff’s office said it requested help from federal marshals in bringing Reed back to the county to face justice.

“Reed is a self proclaimed pimp and is suspected of trafficking young women in several cities in the United States,” the sheriff’s office news release stated. “Cobb County sheriff’s office fugitive investigators along with marshals task force members conducted interviews and surveillance of known locations for Reed in the metropolitan Atlanta area and determined that Reed had fled to Memphis.”

Reed was held in custody at the Shelby County jail in Tennessee for extradition back to Cobb, the sheriff’s office said.