Five people were arrested Aug. 14 during coordinated operations in McDuffie, Lincoln and Richmond counties as part of a human trafficking and gang investigation involving a 17-year-old girl who had been reported missing.
The arrests are part of a broader case that has now resulted in indictments against eight defendants in Richmond, McDuffie and Bibb counties. Prosecutors allege the girl was trafficked for commercial sex across Georgia before she was recovered in December 2025.
Larry James Mance, 58, of Thomson; Shawanna Brown Mance, 47, of Augusta; Christopher Jerome Carter, 48, of Thomson; John Peyton Norman, 33, of Lincolnton; and Robert Richard Vantassell, 31, of Thomson were taken into custody during the Aug. 14 operations.
Larry Mance was booked in Richmond County on charges including racketeering, trafficking a person for sexual servitude and sexual exploitation of children. Shawanna Mance was charged with racketeering, trafficking of persons for sexual servitude and pimping.
Carter, Norman and Vantassell were booked in McDuffie County on racketeering charges, with Carter and Norman also facing human trafficking charges.
The Georgia Attorney General's Office alleges members of the group worked together to exploit the teenager, including taking explicit photographs, posting online advertisements, transporting her and collecting money from commercial sex acts. Investigators also believe the case has ties to the Gangster Disciples street gang.
The investigation began producing arrests months earlier. Jimmy Lavont Mance, 40, of Thomson, was charged in April and indicted in McDuffie County in June in connection with the same teenager.
The case expanded again Aug. 20 when prosecutors announced additional indictments against Moses Lavar Leverette, 43, of Thomson, and Kathleen Angel Lowery, 48, of Macon. Their indictments brought the total number of defendants charged in the investigation to eight.
The Aug. 14 arrests were carried out without incident as multiple local, state and federal agencies participated in the operation.
The investigation has involved the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Thomson Regional Investigative Office, the Attorney General's Human Trafficking and Gang Prosecution Units, the U.S. Marshals Service and law enforcement agencies in McDuffie, Richmond, Columbia, Lincoln, Bibb and Paulding counties, along with the Thomson Police Department.