Philadelphia: A 14-year-old Philadelphia girl has filed a lawsuit in the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court against a motel accusing it of being the ‘local epicenter of human trafficking’.
In her lawsuit, the girl claimed that Roosevelt Inn, a roadside motel was known for renting out rooms to men who forced teenage girls into sex trade.
According to a report in The Washington Post, the girl alleged that she was held hostage in the motel for months at a time and was forced into having sex with as many as 1,000 men. The abuse went on for a period of over two years, said the lawsuit.
Her lawyer, Nadeem Bezar claimed that the motel owners rented out rooms to her traffickers and earned profit from the abuse.
“The motel has a history of illicit activities, from drugs to several incidents surrounding trafficking and prostitution, said Bezar.
Narrating how the victim landed up in the situation, her lawyer said that she left her home after falling out with her parents. Desperate to find a place to stay, the victim started hanging out with the ‘wrong people’, who in turn sold her into sex slavery.
In the lawsuit, the victim mentioned that she was forced to perform sex acts on men twice or thrice her age.
Her traffickers would hunt for customers through online advertisements and even negotiate with them, the lawsuit alleged. The customers had to come down to the motel and the clerk would then direct them to the room where the sex slaves were kept, it added.
Ever since she has escaped from her traffickers, the girl has reunited with her family. Although her traffickers have been put behind the bars, she has initiated a legal action against the motel for their involvement in the sex trade business.
The lawsuit seeks a compensation of USD 50,000 as a part of punitive damages.
