Sex trafficked as a minor, woman says Seattle-area hotels, Craigslist complicit
SEATTLE -- A western Washington woman who says she was forced into a nightmarish world of sex trafficking at age 12 is now suing area hotels and Craigslist for being complicit in the crimes.
The lawsuit claims pimps would advertise her on Craigslist under "erotic" or "adult" services categories, drawing in two to 20 men a day to rape her.
"She was raped countless times, countless times, by adults for many years," said the victim's attorney Erik Bauer.
"Corporations should not be allowed to help pimps sell children to be raped by perverts," Bauer said. "They should not be able to profit off of that."
A western Washington woman who says she was forced into a nightmarish world of sex trafficking at age 12 is now suing area hotels and Craigslist for being complicit in the crimes. The lawsuit lists four Seattle-area hotels where the victim was repeat
Court documents detail years of trafficking, where multiple men would come to rape the minor, staying for 30 minutes to an hour before being replaced by another buyer.
"Often buyers would wait outside the door to her hotel room or in their cars in the parking lot for their turn to commit multiple acts of abuse against ," the lawsuit claims.
Her attorney claims the hotels and the staff turned a blind eye to the criminal activity because of the money they received renting the rooms.
The lawsuit alleges the trafficking was obvious, and that signs included, "large numbers of condoms and condom wrappers in the garbage cans, unusual amount of body fluids on linens and towels, bottles of lubes and lotions as well as pornographic magazines." All of this is in addition to the presence of a minor in that room.
"Unfortunately, it’s not surprising, but it's devastating to hear about this victim’s experience," said Mar Brettmann, CEO of Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking, or BEST.