A federal jury has ordered the owner of a Super 8 hotel in College Park, Georgia, to pay $164 million to a woman who was trafficked for sex at the property when she was 15 years old.
The woman was reportedly held at the hotel in 2020 and 2021, where she was sexually assaulted by her captors and by clients the traffickers brought to the premises. Her attorney, Patrick McDonough, told WAGA-TV she was held at the hotel for about 120 days.
“They set up an environment for children to be sold,” McDonough said. “This hotel operator would actually warn the traffickers if the police were coming.”
“Hey, look, if you’re going to turn a blind eye and profit off of children being sold, you’re going to be held accountable,” he added.
The jury found that Lincoln Bancorp LLC, the owner of the hotel chain, must pay $44 million in compensatory damages and $120 million in punitive damages.
The case is the latest in a string of civil suits holding Georgia hotels liable for sex trafficking on their properties. Last year, a jury in DeKalb County awarded $40 million to a woman who was trafficked there at age 16, in a case against United Inn and Suites. That verdict marked the first time a Georgia hotel was found civilly liable for sex trafficking.
At least three other hotels in Georgia currently face similar civil suits over alleged sex trafficking on their premises.
Georgia is not alone in facing this kind of litigation. According to the Lawsuit Information Center, two hotels in New Jersey are currently being sued over sex trafficking allegations, along with properties in Los Angeles, Ohio and Philadelphia.
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