COLUMBUS, Ga. ( WRBL ) — Piedmont Columbus Regional held a notable First Friday Heroes ceremony Tuesday morning. Although it is not Friday, two Muscogee County deputies were honored for their work in preventing two children from human trafficking.
The deputies discovered inmates in the Muscogee County Jail were messaging a registered sex offender in New York through a monitored texting app called Chirp. The inmates planned to kidnap two children for human trafficking and transport them out of state. The deputies’ discoveries were turned over to sheriff’s investigators, who arrested a woman on charges of human trafficking.
Deputy Stephanie Culberson, one of the heroes honored Tuesday morning, tells WRBL that the day began like any other.
“On this particular day, I had received something from corporate Nero that was concerning to him, and he passed it along to me just a bit and see if it was, in fact good information or if it was what he thought it was. And upon further investigation, my lieutenant and I, we determined that it was, in fact, something to be concerned about,” shared Deputy Culberson.