The owners of a Northeast Philadelphia hotel will need to pay $24 million to underage victims of sex trafficking that the hotel permitted.
A statement shared by the law firm that represented eight victims -- who were between the ages of 14 and 17 -- said that the abuse occurred over the course of three years, while ownership and management of the Days Inn near Roosevelt Boulevard and Mayfair Street did nothing to stop it.
“The victimization of these young girls should not be tolerated. The criminal process has punished the traffickers," said attorney Nadeem Bezar of Kline & Specter, PC, the law firm that reached the settlement on behalf of the victims. "It’s now time to hold the hotel owners accountable. Plain and simple, this type of activity should not be allowed to go on anywhere."
The statement claims the crimes took place over the course of three years and some of the victims were held in rented rooms for days or weeks at a time.
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Most of the victims had previously been in the child welfare system and in foster care, the law firm said, and some of the girls were repeatedly beaten by the traffickers.
The statement notes that the victims said the trafficking was “open, obvious and notorious” and should have been recognizable to the hotel staff.
Also, the law firm pointed out that the hotel owner hired a security guard who had a felony conviction that precluded him from working as security.
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Over the years, the statement notes, nearly 40 complaints to hotel management about criminal activity, including prostitution and drug use, went ignored.
The US Attorney's Office of Eastern Pa. said the individuals responsible for these crimes have been arrested and charged.
The victims, the law firm said, had been kept at various hotels for days or weeks and then moved to different hotels.
