ATLANTA — A Union City man is heading to prison for the rest of his life after being convicted of selling a child for sex across metro Atlanta over the course of several months in 2021.
On Tuesday, the Attorney General’s Office announced Mark Thomas, 38, was sentenced to two life sentences after being convicted of minor sex trafficking in Fulton and Cherokee counties.
11Alive has been following this human trafficking case since we uncovered it after the arrest of Dionte Johnson, a convicted sex offender, who the Attorney General’s office said helped provide the motel rooms where the 15-year-old survivor was sold for sex.
This case started unfolding on Dec. 18, 2021, when a Cherokee County deputy pulled over Thomas for a traffic violation. At the time, a 16-year-old girl was in Thomas’ passenger seat.
This stop led to Thomas being arrested and the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and Homeland Security Investigations launching a multi-county investigation.
It was discovered during an interview with the teenager, she had been sold for sex by Thomas for approximately three months beginning in September of 2021 when she was 15 years old.
Thomas who is now convicted of the crime, drove the teenager to Woodstock, where she was sold to Jose Medina Dominguez and Cesar Juarez Oaxaca.
Dominguez pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude and one count of statutory rape in Cherokee County Superior Court. He was sentenced to 25 years, with 10 years to be served in prison.
Oaxaca pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude in Cherokee County Superior Court. He was sentenced to 25 years, with 12 years to be served in prison.
Thomas also sold the teenager for sex along Fulton Industrial Boulevard and surrounding hotels in Fulton County. One of those hotels being the Economy Motel. The Attorney General’s office said Dionte Johnson, who at the time was a clerk at the motel, helped Thomas by supplying him rooms and received a portion of the financial proceeds from the sale of the teenager.
11Alive confirmed Dionte Johnson is already a registered sex offender after being convicted of aggravated sexual battery in 2013. He was arrested in February after being indicted on charges connected to this human trafficking ring.
A judge has since given him a $100,000 bond but as of Tuesday afternoon, he remains locked up, awaiting trial on two counts of trafficking a person for sexual servitude.
The Attorney General’s office said Johnson and Thomas sold the child for sex to Cedric Johnson. He has since pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude in Fulton County Superior Court. He was sentenced 25 years, with 13 years to be served in prison.
Another buyer was identified through the investigation as Ruben Tolentino. He pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude in Fulton County Superior Court. He was sentenced to 25 years, with seven years to be served in prison.
The survivor at the center of this human trafficking ring wrote a poem to Thomas, who she was found with back in December 2021, following his conviction and being given a life sentence.
She allowed the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit to share it with 11Alive to bring light to survivors.
To be honest
I don’t know how to describe
The way your eyes appear
in the middle of my nights.
It’s like I’m there again
in the car
at the store.
It’s the reason for my fits
On the floor.
I shut down and shut up.
Isn’t that what you wanted?
To know I feel fear,
Untrusting, unwanted.
I hate that I miss you
A little, only slightly
But I will always remember
your name – spitefully.
It burns my mind to think about the good
-only a handful of times
But it burns even worse
To think you were mine.
The survivor has appeared virtually to provide impact statements during each defendants hearing to express what these men put her through over the course of those months in 2021.
As Dionte Johnson's trial is still pending, the Attorney General’s Office hopes Thomas’ life sentence sends a strong message to everyone across Georgia.
“These life sentences should send a message to all those who prey on our children – you will be vigorously pursued and aggressively prosecuted,” Attorney General Chris Carr said.
“We will not rest in our efforts to protect our most vulnerable Georgians, and anyone who seeks to abuse and exploit them will be met with the full force of the law. We are proud of this latest outcome, and we will keep fighting until every person who engaged in the trafficking of this young woman is put behind bars," he added.
These cases were investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s (GBI) Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Atlanta Field Office and the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
“These convictions are the result of the diligence of the GBI’s Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit, working alongside state and federal partners,” GBI Director Mike Register said. “Human trafficking victims deserve justice, and our agency will continue to work closely with the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit to investigate these deplorable crimes.”
“These sentences say loud and clear that predators like Thomas will be found and held accountable,” Acting Special Agent in Charge Travis Pickard said, who oversees HSI operations in Georgia and Alabama. “Everyone in the community can breathe easier knowing he will no longer be able to victimize anyone, thanks to the great work by the agents, officers and law enforcement partners involved in the case.”
About the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit
In 2019, with the support of Governor Brian Kemp, Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp and leaders in the Georgia General Assembly, Attorney General Chris Carr created the first-of-its-kind statewide Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
The Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit rescued and assisted 116 victims last year alone.
The Unit has 46 defendants who are currently under indictment for sex or labor trafficking, with some facing charges in multiple jurisdictions around the state.
The Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit is housed in the Prosecution Division, which also includes Carr’s Gang Prosecution Unit and his Public Integrity and White Collar Crime Unit.
