Three charged in Mississippi child sex trafficking case
Published 5:00 am Friday, May 12, 2023
The Warren County Sheriff’s Office has arrested three individuals involved in the trafficking of a minor. Lieutenant Stacy Rollison was contacted by Child Protective Services on April 10 concerning a child who had been trafficked for sex by an adult female named Frances Dawson, 39 of Jackson.
“During the course of the investigation, Frances Dawson was identified as an adult that had made the child available to adult males,” Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.
Rollison and other sheriff’s 0ffice personnel arrested Dawson at the CPS office at about 9:30 a.m. on May 1. Dawson was charged with two counts of procuring sexual servitude of a minor and her bond was set at $50,000.
“This stems from an incident in 2018 and one in 2019 when the child was trafficked for the profit of Miss Dawson to two adult males,” Pace said.
Bennie Cosby, 72 of Warren County, was identified as one of those males and was arrested on May 5 at his residence on Gibson Road.
The other man, Hyman Cosby, 67 of Vicksburg, was arrested in his home on May 10 at about 9 a.m. by several Sheriff’s deputies led by Sergeant Cordell Watkins. Bennie and Hyman, brothers, are each charged with two counts of sexual battery of a child under 14. At their initial appearance in court, each had their bond set at $500,000. Pace added that the District Attorney’s Office is also involved in the investigation and had representatives present for the initial appearance of both Bennie and Hyman Cosby.
Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation and the involvement of a minor, Pace declined to provide further details on the case.