Two Florida women who were victims of sex trafficking have sued almost two dozen hotels where they were forced to have sex, claiming the businesses did nothing to stop the illegal activity.
At the hotels around the affluent Naples area, women wandered the hotel hallways strung out on drugs and wearing little clothing, according to the lawsuit by the women who are only using their initials in the complaint.
The Naples Daily News reports that men cycled in and out of the women’s hotel rooms, and when housekeepers cleaned the rooms they often found drug and sex paraphernalia.
The lawsuit seeks $100 million, and it was filed at the end of last year in state court in southwest Florida. It claims management at the 22 hotels did nothing to stop the trafficking in 2015 and 2016. Lawyers for the women said they delayed filing the lawsuit until last year’s resolution of a criminal case that resulted in the convictions of two men on trafficking and prostitution charges.
