CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — A man is headed to prison after a teenage girl was found walking along an interstate.
The Carroll County Sheriff’s office said the case started on May 24, 2024, when the Walton County Sheriff’s Office told Carroll County deputies a missing teenage girl from Walton County might be near Lamar Moody Park off Lake Paradise Road.
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Deputies checked out the area, but did not find her, according to the sheriff’s office.
At about 6:40 a.m., Carroll County E-911 got a call from two travelers from Alabama who said they found a girl alone along Interstate 20.
The sheriff’s office said several agencies confirmed she was the missing teenager.
Investigators later identified Nicholas Hallstrom as the person who initially picked up the girl, according to the sheriff’s office. Walton County investigators got warrants for Hallstrom and took him into custody.
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The investigation later found the encounter between Hallstrom and the girl was sexual in nature, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said Hallstrom confessed to crimes against the girl during an interview with an investigator.
Hallstrom was charged in Carroll County with two counts of child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, enticing a child for indecent purposes, cruelty to children in the second degree and statutory rape, according to the sheriff’s office.
On Aug. 26, 2026, more than two years after the investigation began, Hallstrom pleaded guilty. A judge sentenced him to 50 years total, with 30 years to serve in state prison.
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