Lawsuit filed against Fresno hotels, accusing knowledge of sex trafficking

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A federal lawsuit named five Fresno hotels as defendants in a sex trafficking case that was filed this week. The lawsuit claims that the accommodations financially benefited from and knew that sex trafficking was taking place at their facilities.

For the safety of the victim, her identity is being concealed. In the more than 100-page complaint, she is called Jane Doe. 

“It’s very dangerous for the survivors to speak about what happened to them, a lot of times the individual traffickers are parts of gangs, that is the case here, and so there are a lot of different affiliates that we want to protect her from,” said Meagan Verschueren, a Singleton Schreiber Attorney representing the victim. 

Jane Doe alleges she was sex trafficked from 2010 to 2016 in Fresno as an adult.

The five accommodations named in the complaint are the Fresno Days Inn, Red Roof Inn, Palace Inn, Kings Canyon Inn, and The Vagabond Inn.

It stated that “Several security guards, front desk managers and owners at Defendants’ properties would participate in the trafficking as buyers and/or by exchanging rooms for sex or drugs and would protect and do business with traffickers including Plaintiff’s traffickers.”

It goes on to say that employees ignored the red flags, including a large number of male visitors going to and from the Plaintiff’s room, visible signs of physical abuse, loud noises of abuse, and more.

“These entities in particular chose profits over people,” Verschueren said.

Verschueren says Days Inn and Red Roof Inn are no strangers to lawsuits of this nature. They have been sued multiple times for sex trafficking incidents in California and other states.

“You can imagine by the very nature of what happened to them, that they are repeatedly raped on a daily basis, oftentimes for years, that this leads to very long-lasting effects on their well-being,” Verschueren said.

A jury trial has been requested, and the Plaintiff is seeking more than $100,000 in damages. 

“The average age that we’re seeing that gangs are targeting are between the ages of 12 and 16 years old,” said Debra Rush, CEO & Co-founder of Breaking the Chains. Making resources like the Fresno non-profit, Breaking the Chains so vital. 

The non-profit assists both law enforcement and victims of human trafficking, providing critical care services and breaking the stereotype of shame that falls on the victims.

Anyone who suspects human trafficking is asked to immediately call the police. Those unsure of the signs of human trafficking can contact Breaking the Chains.