SEX TRAFFICKING IN HOTELS AND MOTELS

Sex trafficking is a heinous crime perpetrated against some of society’s most vulnerable populations. Traffickers exploit and abuse victims by forcing them to engage in commercial sexual activity.  Hotels and motels across the country have become some of the most common places of abuse for survivors of human trafficking and sex trafficking, according to Homeland Security Investigations. The Polaris Project, a nonprofit fighting sex trafficking, reported that nearly 9,000 victims of sex trafficking identified hotels as the places where the trafficking and abuse occurred. Hotels and motels have a responsibility to identify and act upon red flags for sexual abuse and trafficking occurring in their rooms and on their property.

At Levy Konigsberg, we are fighting for survivors of sex trafficking, including sex trafficking within residential treatment centers and within hotels and motels.

If you or someone you love has been a victim of sex trafficking that occurred in a hotel or motel, know that you are not alone and that we are here to help. Reach out today.

History of Sex Trafficking in Hotels and Motels

• In November 2025, a survivor of sex trafficking brought suit against a Motel 6 in Raleigh, North Carolina, alleging its staff knowingly allowed her to be repeatedly victimized there when she was 16, at times acting as a lookout for police.  The lawsuit alleges that between 2017 and 2018, the Plaintiff was forced into engaging in multiple sexual acts per day.  The lawsuit alleges that victims, including the Plaintiff, walked around the motel grounds at 2641 Appliance Court while impaired by drugs and alcohol, and were sleep deprived, hygiene impaired, behavior impaired, with visible bruising, malnourished, and in sexually explicit clothing. Motel staff allegedly witnessed physical and verbal abuse, saw heavy foot traffic coming and going, knew about suspicious cash, drugs, condoms and lubricants in the rooms and would sometimes keep watch or act as informants.  Other North Carolina hotels have similarly faced such allegations.  In June 2025, a woman identified only as D.H. sued those operating a Super 8 on Texland Boulevard in Charlotte, alleging she was raped there 10 to 20 times a day while a minor in 2014.

• In September 2025, a Days Inn Hotel in metro Atlanta agreed to pay two survivors of child sex trafficking a combined $5 million to settle a federal lawsuit.  The survivors, both just 14 at the time, said they were sold for sex at the Stockbridge hotel in March 2013. They accused hotel staff of ignoring and, in some cases, facilitating the abuse.

• In July 2025, Randolph Lewis of Arlington Texas was arrested at the Quality Inn Hotel located at 26111 Telegraph Rd. in Southfield Michigan on charges of human trafficking, accepting prostitution earnings, using a computer in the commission of a crime, and criminal sexual conduct.  Police arrived at the hotel after Lewis allegedly damaged a woman’s car windshield.  The woman told police that Lewis had rented three rooms at the hotel – a classic indication of possible human trafficking, according to police.  It was reported that the woman eventually told police that she was a survivor of sex trafficking perpetrated by Lewis and that during the three to four days that she had been in Michigan, she had allegedly seen numerous clients at the hotel after Lewis advertised her online. However, she didn’t get any of the money because Lewis would keep it, police said.  Lewis reportedly controlled the woman by assaulting and threatening her.  She also alleged that during the year that she was being trafficked, Lewis allegedly had around 10 other victims, but she did not have their names or contact information. Some victims were as young as 17, police said.

• In June 2025, a woman filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a Super 8 motel in Charlotte knowingly enabled and profited from her sex trafficking when she was a teenager.  According to the lawsuit, the Super 8 in which she was trafficked was on 11300 Texland Boulevard near Westinghouse Boulevard and was known for prostitution and crime. The 16-year-old girl was trafficked, beaten and raped up to 20 times every day for about two months at the hotel in 2014, according to the lawsuit.  The suit further alleges that despite repeated warnings from law enforcement, customer complaints and visible signs of criminal activity like high volumes of men visiting the room for short periods of time, motel owners failed to take action and instead profited from illegal activity happening on their property by renting out the rooms.

• In April 2025, a federal judge in Colorado agreed that a sex trafficking lawsuit could proceed against the operator of a Colorado Springs hotel. The plaintiff alleged she was the victim of sex trafficking at the Days Inn by Wyndham Colorado Springs/Garden of the Gods, located at 4610 Rusina Road. She claimed that in 2018, her traffickers paid for rooms, used the hotel’s Internet to advertise her for sex online and even paid staff to act as lookouts or informants. The plaintiff sued the hotel operator, Santosa and Brother Inc., for violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act by ignoring “red flags” of commercial sex activity, such as foot traffic to rented rooms, loitering, the presence of drug and sex paraphernalia, and people who appeared malnourished and in sexually explicit clothing. A few months earlier, in February 2025, the same judge allowed a similar sex trafficking case to go forward against D Fort Hotel, LLC, the motel operator of the Motel 6 located at 3900 E. Mulberry Street in Fort Collins where the plaintiff in that case alleges she was sex trafficked.

• In March 2025, it was reported that Motel 6, Days Inn, and North American Motor Inn in Philadelphia agreed to settle for $17.5 million with three women who said they were trafficked as minors.  The women were allegedly trafficked at those hotels between May 2015 and January 2017. The hotels allegedly failed to provide sufficient security, even though there was ongoing criminal activity and regular visits from the police. They reportedly allowed non-guests to come and go without question and didn’t train staff to recognize signs of sex trafficking.

• In February 2025, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington denied Defendant Choice Hotels International, Inc.’s motion to dismiss, permitting the plaintiff’s sex trafficking case to go forward against the hotel chain.  According to the plaintiff’s lawsuit, Choice Hotels, franchisor of a Quality Inn in Kent, failed to prevent or intervene despite “clear signs of trafficking” at the two hotels where the plaintiff was trafficked between 2012 and 2016.  The complaint further alleges that despite red flags for trafficking such as visible signs of abuse, frequent cash payments by traffickers, extended stays on a day-to-day basis, and unusually high volumes of male visitors to a single room, hotel staff allegedly did not intervene, and the franchise hotel owners reportedly accepted payments from traffickers to allow after-hours visitors.

• In February 2025, a woman filed a lawsuit against hotels and motels in Los Angeles and Texas, claiming that they allowed her to be sex trafficked and raped nearly 1000 times as a minor.  The victim alleged she was forced into sex trafficking at eight hotels run by three chains across Los Angeles and Texas. The hotels named in the lawsuit include Motel 6 locations in Westlake and Gardena, a Studio 6 in Dallas, a Red Roof Inn in Houston, a Days Inn by Wyndham, and a Super 8 by Wyndham. The lawsuit alleges that Motel 6 franchisor G6 Hospitality LLC, Wyndham Hotel Group, and Red Roof Inn were responsible because staff allegedly knew of the abuse and the policies of the hotels allowed the abuse to occur there.  Staff allegedly ignored obvious signs of abuse like visible bruising, malnourishment, her drugged state, and her inappropriate clothing. Staff also allegedly witnessed the victim being trafficked, helped her trafficker commit the crime, and in some instances, watched her as she was allegedly being raped or participated in the rape themselves.

• In January 2025, Omaha Police arrested six suspects at the AmericInn by Wyndham Omaha Motel near South 15th and Spring Street in Omaha, Nebraska on sex trafficking charges.  The police were called to the motel on a report of a theft.  While investigating said theft, authorities reportedly uncovered what they believed to be two juvenile victims of sex trafficking. A court appearance a few days later revealed that the suspects forced the victims to have sex with hotel workers in exchange for a free stay.  One of the suspects, Eduardo Perdomo, would also reportedly frequently force victims to participate in sex acts by threatening them, and took photos of one of the juveniles posing in sexual positions while wearing lingerie and then posted the photos online as an advertisement for commercial sex, according to prosecutors.

• In January 2025, a lawsuit was filed against Oakland Airport Hotel Ltd. by a woman who was allegedly sex trafficked as a minor in 2023 at the Oakland Airport Executive Hotel. According to the lawsuit, the hotel should have noticed and acted upon several red flags for trafficking, including constant foot traffic to and from the rooms and that the victim was seen looking exhausted, unkempt, bruised, underweight, and wearing revealing clothes. The room also allegedly showed obvious signs of sex trafficking.

• In November 2024, two lawsuits were filed on behalf of survivors of sex trafficking that occurred at the Baymont by Wyndham and a Motel 6, both in Hinesville, Georgia. According to the lawsuit, in 2020, an 18 to 19-year old girl was brought to the Motel 6 by a man who beat and raped the teenager while selling her as a sex salve where she was sexually assaulted hundreds of times.  Attorneys said the man would use the motel’s Wi-Fi to post advertisements that the teenager was there and would use money from the sex acts to purchase stays at the motel.  The lawsuit alleges that the motel’s owner should have known the teenager was being trafficked for sex at the motel.

• In July 2024, it was reported that at least 42 federal lawsuits were underway against the hotel chain, Red Roof Inn, and its franchisees and that hundreds more victims were in the process of filing legal action for sex trafficking at Red Roof Inn hotels. The lawsuits, and the cases yet to be filed, reportedly spanned the length and breadth of the country, across 39 states and at least 115 Red Roof Inn hotels.

• In March 2024, two sex trafficking survivors were awarded $24.5 million in a lawsuit against Ramara Inc., which owned North American Motor Inns in West Philadelphia at the time. The survivors were allegedly sexually abused at the hotel when they were minors while staff turned a blind eye to the abuse.

• In February 2023, the Days Inn in Northeast Philadelphia was ordered to pay $24 million to victims of sex trafficking for allegedly allowing the abuse to take place in the hotel.  It was reported that eight victims — who were between the ages of 14 and 17 — alleged that the abuse occurred over the course of three years, while ownership and management of the Days Inn did nothing to stop it.

• In February 2020, two women from Florida who were victims of sex trafficking filed a lawsuit against nearly two dozen hotels in which they were allegedly abused. The hotels allegedly ignored the abuse and red flags for sex trafficking including that women wandered the hotel hallways strung out on drugs and wearing little clothing, men cycled in and out of the women’s hotel rooms, and when housekeepers cleaned the rooms they often found drug and sex paraphernalia.

• In December 2019, a survivor of sex trafficking settled a lawsuit with the Shangri-La Motel in Massachusetts where she was allegedly held captive, burned, cut, starved, and sexually abused. Staff allegedly noticed her distress but ignored it.

• In December 2019, 13 survivors of sex trafficking filed a lawsuit accusing 12 hotel chains of allegedly profiting from the alleged abuse. The hotels were allegedly aware of the trafficking but ignored it.  Some of the hotels named in the lawsuit included Hilton, Red Roof Inn, Intercontinental Hotels, Best Western, and Wyndham Hotels.

LK is Investigating Sex Trafficking Allegations in Hotels and Motels

Levy Konigsberg is actively investigating allegations of abuse at hotels and motels, including the following:

• Motel 6
• Studio 6
• Red Roof
• Days Inn
• Super 8
• North American Motor Inn
• Oakland Airport Executive Hotel
• Shangri-La Motel
• Hilton Hotels
• Intercontinental Hotels
• Best Western
• Wyndham Hotels

Do I Have a Case?

You may have grounds to file a civil legal action if you were a victim of sex trafficking.

As civil claims, these cases are separate from any criminal proceedings that may arise from abuse and focus instead on holding institutions liable for damages. This means you may still have a claim even if:

• Your abuser is no longer alive.
• Your abuser was never charged with or convicted of a crime.

Recoverable Damages in Sexual Abuse Claims

In addition to providing accountability and a sense of justice, civil sex abuse lawsuits allow survivors to recover financial compensation for their damages, which may include:

• Past medical and mental health expenses
• Future mental health expenses, including therapy, medications, etc.
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish and psychological harm
• Lost income
• Other economic and non-economic damages

Sex Trafficking Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations sets deadlines for victims to bring claims against their abuser or entities responsible for the abuse. On September 16, 2022, federal legislation entitled “The Eliminating Limits to Justice for Child Sex Abuse Victims Act of 2022” was enacted.  The Act eliminates the statute of limitations for a minor victim of certain federal human trafficking or sex offenses.  Under prior law, the statute of limitations for these claims was no later than 10 years after the date on which the plaintiff reasonably discovers the violation or injury, whichever occurs later, that forms the basis for the claim, or no later than 10 years after the date on which the victim reaches 18 years of age.  While the Act took effect on September 16, 2022, it does not revive claims that would have already been barred as of September 15, 2022 by the prior statute of limitations.  The Act only applies to claims or actions not previously barred that arise after September 16, 2022.  

To understand the statute of limitations for your case, it's essential to consult with an experienced lawyer. At Levy Konigsberg, our attorneys specialize in handling both childhood sexual abuse cases and adult sexual abuse cases. We can assess the merits of your potential case and determine how the statute of limitations specifically applies to the facts of your case.

We Represent Survivors in All Types of Sex Abuse Claims

At Levy Konigsberg, we have the experience and resources to help survivors in sexual abuse lawsuits involving all types of institutions and circumstances, including:

• Boy Scout Sexual Abuse
• Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
• Cruise Ship & Airline Sexual Abuse
• Doctors or Medical Staff Sexual Abuse
• Entertainment Industry Sexual Abuse
• Foster Care Sexual Abuse
• Group Home Sexual Abuse
• Hotel & Motel Sexual Abuse
• Other Religious Group Sexual Abuse
• Police Sexual Assault
• Psychiatric Hospital Sexual Abuse
• Rideshare Sexual Abuse
• School Sexual Abuse
• Sex Trafficking Lawsuits
• Social Media & Online Games Sexual Abuse
• Spas and Massage Parlors Sexual Abuse
• Summer Camp Sexual Abuse
• Voyeurism
• Women’s Prison Sexual Abuse
• Youth Facility Sexual Abuse
• Youth Sport Sexual Abuse