A Cartersville man who was convicted of abducting a woman from her workplace on Roswell Road in Marietta last year was given a 20-year prison sentence by a Cobb judge on Thursday.
Antoine Latroy Williams, 40, must serve at least 18 years behind bars, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s office, with the remainder on probation.
The sentence was handed down by Cobb Superior Court Judge Stephen Schuster after Williams was convicted of kidnapping, sexual battery, and three counts of simple battery on Wednesday.
According to prosecutors, Williams met the woman, who is in her early 20s, on Feb. 25, 2018 and offered her a job. The following day he went to her place of business on Roswell Road in the city of Marietta five times and waited for her in the parking lot.
She drove away and he followed her, and a short time later she pulled over to the side of the road, according to prosecutors, who said Williams then forced the woman into his car.
The DA’s office said Williams drove her around Cobb County in his car before traveling to Cartersville and threatened to hurt her if she tried to escape. He also put his hand on her thigh, grabbed her hair, and slapped her hand, prosecutors said.
They also said Willliams threatened to hurt her if she tried to escape, and he groped her on the thigh, pulled her hair and struck her hand.
After Williams stopped at a QuickTrip in Cartersville, prosecutors said the woman managed to escape.
At the trial, prosecutors alleged that Williams has a history of violence toward women. A woman testified that he sexually assaulted her in Los Angeles in 2011.
“Every shiny object you dangled in front of this girl: a Mercedes, cash, a phone and a job was just to lure her into your control. I don’t see these as tokens of your affection, you were grooming her, pure and simple,” Schuster said at the sentencing. “I see you as nothing more than a predator.”
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
