Woman takes plea deal in Hardeeville sex trafficking case linked to Lowcountry businessman
A 30-year-old woman signed a plea deal in a sex trafficking case involving a Lowcountry businessman who allegedly solicited sex from a minor for money at Hardeeville motels and at his Beaufort County gated community home.
Jessica Mills, 30, agreed to plead guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to traffic a minor for sex, according to court documents filed April 8.
Authorities described Mills as engaged in the “commercial sex business,” and introduced a 17-year-old girl to Mount Pleasant businessman Earl Dawson Caldwell IV. Caldwell previously served as president and CEO of AP Recovery, a global auditing firm founded by his father.
Caldwell was asked to resign from the posts last fall following his charges.
A federal grand jury indicted Caldwell on one count of conspiracy to traffic a minor for sex, one count of child sex trafficking, and three counts of having child sex abuse images.
A Department of Homeland Security agent wrote in a previously sealed court document how Caldwell spent thousands on the 17-year-old girl for drugs and sexual acts at Hardeeville motels — known hot spots along I-95 for sex trafficking — and at his million dollar home in Sheldon, described in a real estate listing as being in Brays Island Plantation.
He also is accused of taking child sexual abuse images of the minor. A judge denied his bond, and Caldwell has pleaded not guilty. A reporter reached out to his Columbia lawyer, Debbie Barbier, on Wednesday.
Another man in the case, Cedrick Ventiego Riley, was indicted on one count of possession of a weapon as a convicted felon, one count of conspiracy to traffic a minor for sex, and one count of child sex trafficking.
A reporter sent emails to Mills’ and Riley’s lawyers on Wednesday but did not hear back from them.
Sex trafficking investigation
Authorities first learned about Caldwell, Mills and Riley close to one year ago, according to court documents.
On April 30, 2021, the Hardeeville Police Department began investigating after it learned of a potential human trafficking victim reported by a children’s hospital in Savannah.
A minor taken to the hospital for appendicitis told hospital staff she was forced to have sex with multiple men every day for money and drugs, the documents said. She was addicted to crack cocaine and said Riley, who was with her at the hospital, would supply her with drugs.
Riley was believed to be her handler. The minor said she was living out of a room in the Days Inn on Whyte Hardee Boulevard in Hardeeville, according to court documents.
Days later, authorities searched the Days Inn room and found the minor was moved to the Red Roof Inn in Yemassee. Police rescued her from the Yemassee motel and put her into Department of Social Services custody, after arresting Riley on local charges, the court documents stated.
Security footage and the minor identified Caldwell, the businessman, as leaving out the backdoor of the Red Roof Inn a day or two beforehand, according to the court documents.
The minor described Caldwell as her “Sugar Daddy” and met him through Mills shortly after her 17th birthday, according to the affidavit.
The document goes on to detail how Caldwell allegedly solicited the minor for sexual acts multiple times, spent thousands on her, and took illicit photos and videos of her. He had two phones, and authorities obtained text communications between him and the minor on his phone through search warrants.
“I just got back [sic] Beaufort. Trying to figure out if I should say something to my business partner about you or not. Whether to sneak out later and come down there, or have you come up here. Miss seeing you. I want you,” Caldwell allegedly wrote to the minor in a Feb. 24, 2021, text message.
Caldwell seemed aware of the illegal nature of his actions, according to a report from the Charleston Post and Courier newspaper.
“Charleston businessman found in Hardeeville hotel room with underage girl and convicted felon,” Caldwell wrote in one message. “That’s what I don’t want to read in the newspaper.”
Caldwell was arrested Oct. 11 and remains in the Charleston County Jail. He was denied bail by a magistrate and awaits trial or a plea.
Both Riley and Mills have “change of plea” hearings scheduled for April 26, though only Mills has signed a plea agreement, according to court records. No sentencing date has been set.
