A 26-year-old Georgia man has been convicted of trafficking a 16-year-old female victim.
Reed Cohen Skelton of Bowersville, a former ICU nurse, pleaded guilty to the charges last week.
Authorities say Skelton used social media apps, including Snapchat, before trafficking the female victim months later. Skelton initiated online contact with the victim and continued to communicate with her for several months – requesting and sending sexually explicit content to the minor.
Following this online communication, Skelton traveled to Cobb County to pick up the 16-year-old in November 2024. He then transported the victim to a hotel in Fulton County, where he rented a room and engaged in commercial sex with the minor. He also created and possessed digital files of the act with the minor. In exchange, Skelton paid the victim $500.
On Feb. 12, 2026, Reed Cohen Skelton pleaded guilty to the following charges:
- 2 counts of Trafficking of Persons for Sexual Servitude
- 1 count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor
Skelton was sentenced to 25 years, with the first 10 years to be served in prison and the remainder on strict probation. He is also required to register as a sex offender.
Skelton surrendered his nursing license as part of his guilty plea.
The case was investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s (GBI) Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, the Cobb County Police Department, and the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, with assistance from the Gainesville Police Department, the Hart County Sheriff’s Office, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, and Georgia State Patrol.
This case was prosecuted by former Assistant Attorney General Kaitlyn (Fain) Salinas and Assistant Attorney General Claire Anderson of the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
