‘Many red flags’. Did a Hosmer Street hotel fail to prevent woman’s sex trafficking?
A federal lawsuit claims that the owner/operator of a South End Tacoma hotel failed to prevent the sex trafficking of a young woman between 2019 and 2021 despite “many red flags” that should have alerted it to the illegal conduct occurring on the premises.
The suit, filed by a woman identified only by her initials to protect her identity, alleged that the Quality Inn & Suites on 8810 S. Hosmer St. didn’t act on warning signs that she was repeatedly being forced to have sex for money at the lodging establishment.
“Sex trafficking occurred at this subject hotel in 2019 and, upon information and belief, prior thereto,” the complaint said.
The suit was filed Aug. 28 in U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington. It said that the hotel’s owner, Tacoma Hotel Motel LLC, didn’t timely or properly implement anti-trafficking policies and practices accepted in the hospitality industry, leading to the woman being victimized and trafficked for sex at the hotel.
The lawsuit also alleged that the victim’s trafficker directly interacted with one or more hotel employees “by means of paying or compensating employee(s) and staff members(s) to act as lookout(s)/informant(s)“ for any police activity.
When reached by phone Wednesday, a Tacoma Hotel Motel representative declined to comment on the allegations and said that the company had yet to be served with the lawsuit.
Messages left with the attorney representing the plaintiff were not returned by deadline Thursday.
The Quality Inn & Suites is on a stretch of street in Tacoma that had been clustered with lodging establishments and had grown notorious for violent crime. While the hotel remains in operation, other properties over the past two years — including the adjacent former Econo Lodge — have been or will be converted into affordable-housing units. Crime rates have subsequently dropped in the area, according to a News Tribune analysis of city data.
The lawsuit claimed there were other victims forced by the plaintiff’s trafficker to have sex for money at the hotel and that the trafficker used proceeds from the illicit activity to pay for the room(s).
Tacoma Hotel Motel either knew or should have known that sex trafficking was occurring on its premises because there were warning signs witnessed by staff, according to the suit.
People constantly went to the trafficker’s rented room(s) to have sex with the victim(s), who walked around the motel under the influence of drugs and alcohol, with visible bruising and in sexually explicit clothing, the complaint said.
There were suspicious items in the room(s) in plain sight of housekeepers, including cash, drugs, condoms and lubricants. The plaintiff’s trafficker monitored the property and the plaintiff solicited for “sex buyers” on site at her trafficker’s direction, according to the complaint, which also described other red flags.
The woman, who was born in 1999, has suffered from depression, anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the trauma she experienced, the suit said.
The legal filing seeks a jury trial and an unspecified amount in damages and legal fees.
