A former rideshare driver in Georgia will spend the next 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole after a Cherokee County judge sentenced him for sexually assaulting and trafficking a 15-year-old girl.
On August 13, Chief Superior Court Judge David L. Cannon Jr. sentenced 45-year-old Jeremiah Nicholas Norwood. Norwood will be released from prison and placed on probation for the rest of his life under special terms for registered sex offenders.
Norwood was sentenced after a Cherokee County jury found him guilty in May of six felony counts: two counts of trafficking persons for sexual servitude, one offense of aggravated child molestation, one count of statutory rape, and two counts of child molestation.
The case began in February 2022, when the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office opened an inquiry after a girl complained that an Uber driver sexually abused her. According to police, the victim requested a transport in the early morning hours of February 5, 2022, with the intention of going to a friend’s residence in Canton. During the trip and later that morning, Norwood offered the girl controlled narcotics in exchange for sexual acts.
During the sentence hearing, prosecutors said that Norwood purposefully took advantage of a kid traveling alone.
“Instead of safely transporting a vulnerable young passenger, the defendant abused that trust by supplying drugs to a 15-year-old and exploiting her,” said Assistant District Attorney Meaghan Frankish of the Special Victims Unit, who handled the case. “The child ingested substances she could not identify, and text messages later indicated that the defendant provided her with Adderall, Xanax, and psilocybin.”
The state requested a 30-year prison term, followed by life on probation. After hearing arguments from both the prosecution and the defense, Judge Cannon imposed the 25-year prison sentence with no possibility of release.
“Sex trafficking can happen in any community, and those who are most vulnerable are often the least able to protect themselves,” District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway said in a statement. “Recognizing the signs, speaking up when something doesn’t seem right, and taking action to protect vulnerable individuals are critical to preventing exploitation.”
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