COCHRAN, Ga. — We’re learning more about a man facing child sex trafficking charges in last week’s disappearance of a Cochran teen.
It’s not the first time that 36-year-old Zachary Despain has been accused of being a predator. According to the Illinois sex offender registry, he’s classified as a sexual predator.
The registry says he was 18 when he was accused of aggravated criminal sex abuse in Peoria, IL. The victim in that case was a 14-year-old.
In the case of the 13-year-old Cochran girl, Despain is set to be extradited back to Georgia. The GBI says they’re still investigating the case.
So far, they have not explained how Despain allegedly connected with the teen and how she ended up 700 miles away from home.
Parents who have been following the story may be wondering ways to keep their child safe, both online and in real life.
Georgia Coalition to Combat Human Trafficking coordinator Victor Williams says the number one piece of advice he can give is making sure your child knows they can talk to you about anything, including the worst things happening in their life.
“Because if they can't talk to you, who are they going to talk to? Most of the time they're talking to people that are definitely not going to have their best interest at heart like a parent will,” said Williams.
He says predators look for vulnerabilities, and being a child is a factor enough for a predator to target them. With this, he says it’s important to monitor your child’s social media.
“We see grooming from all the platforms. The dating platforms, Instagram, Facebook…so I would say parents -- it's your phone, it's your cable, it's your internet, you need to have programs that will let your parents know who your kids are talking to. You can see it, whatever they're doing, you can see it, they're changing apps because they know you're watching. You need to know about it,” said Williams.
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