Jury orders motel owners to pay $600,000 in damages to sex-trafficking victim

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — A jury of 12 handed down a verdict of $600,000 in punitive damages to a victim of sex-trafficking after a group of motel owners ignored the signs that this criminal activity was happening right under their noses.

From August to December of 2019, a woman was sex-trafficked at the America's Best Value Inn in Little Rock.

There were two traffickers who kept her drug addicted – they controlled her through that drug addiction – they also manipulated her, there was physical violence involved," said Meredith Moore.

Moore, a Rainwater Holt & Sexton attorney, who represented the victim-turned-survivor, told KATV the motel owners Patel Legacy Hotel LLC, knew sex-trafficking was occurring and the jury thought so too.

“They found that they were negligent: that there were standards, there were policies and procedures that needed to be in place to protect the guests in that motel and that they fell short,” said Moore.

Not only did they fall short, but they ignored the signs and they ignored everything that was going on there that would have alerted them that it was a dangerous place.

Moore said she hopes that, by the jury ordering Patel Legacy Hotel LLC to pay the victim, it sends a clear message to other motel and hotel owners across the country.

Two of Moore's colleagues, attorneys Denise Hoggard and Eric Wewers, agreed and added that they hope this case also grabs the attention of Arkansas lawmakers. They said current laws make it difficult to prove that often business owners are just as responsible as the trafficker.

You must prove that they knew and that they were part of the venture, that they were sort of in it together with the trafficker,” said Hoggard. “We suggest, or would like to see the legislature say, that if they knew it was going on and they were profiting by taking those room rentals - and they should have known - then they can be held liable.

KATV reached out to Sen. Missy Irvin, R-District 24, who has written multiple pieces of legislation related to sex-trafficking laws. She said she plans to sit down with these attorneys and draft a bill this session in hopes of making it easier to hold people accountable.

We also reached out to the David Donovan, the attorney representing Patel Legacy Hotel LLC for comment, and he released this statement:

My client did nothing wrong, as it had no reason to suspect the sex trafficking of the Plaintiff or any other person at the motel. It could not control whether a person on the premises consumed illegal drugs as the Plaintiff did. Despite my disagreement with the verdict, I am a strong advocate for our jury system and have great respect for the jury in this case. There remain legal issues to resolve regarding the verdict and a potential appeal, which prevent me from commenting further.