On February 2, 2023, the owners of the Days Inn on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia agreed to pay $24 million to eight women sex trafficked at the motel. A ring of sex traffickers forced the women, who were between 14 and 17 at the time, to have sex for money at the motel. These rooms were rented for days and weeks at a time.
Nadeem Bezar and Emily Marks of Kline & Specter, PC, represented the survivors in this civil case. “The trafficking of minors and the degradation that goes on in this kind of harm and abuse is beyond horrible,” Bezar said. “They’re depriving these young women of control over their environment, their body, and their psyche. I hope these cases can empower these survivors and give them back a little bit of what the hotels and traffickers took away.”
This civil settlement comes years after multiple felony convictions for the sex trafficking ring at the motel. Back in 2013 and 2015, Rashaad McIntyre, 35, Craig Johnson, 50, and Jerel Jackson, 36, all of Philadelphia, PA, were convicted of sex trafficking girls at the North East Philadelphia motel in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Adrian Palmer, a security guard at the Days Inn, was convicted for providing protection and assistance to the sex traffickers for a fee.
The CSE Institute notes that hotels and motels are among the most common venues for facilitating and financially benefitting from sex trafficking. These venues provide both easy entry and financial secrecy for sex buyers. The Trafficking Victim’s Protection Act provides means to hold hotels both criminally accountable and civilly liable for sex trafficking. In fact, in 2017, in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the corporate entity of a hotel was convicted for sex trafficking.
The CSE Institute urges the hospitality industry to take ownership of this problem and confront it with tangible solutions. These solutions could include mandatory trainings for all management and employees to help them recognize the signs of sex trafficking in hotels and what to do if they suspect trafficking. The CSE Institute also urges the industry to stop turning a blind eye to the commercial sexual exploitation happening within their hotels. Instead, hotels and motels should become a leading force in stopping this exploitation altogether. The CSE Institute recognizes the need for legislation that would require these types of trainings, policies, and procedures to be implemented in every hotel and motel across the country.
The CSE Institute applauds the work of the attorneys in this civil matter. The CSE Institute also commends the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for their efforts to ensure that individuals who sexually exploit others are held accountable. Most importantly, the CSE Institute applauds the bravery of the survivors in this case. After all, it is irrefutable that survivor voices will be the force of change in the sex trafficking narrative.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.