An Arkansas woman claims in a lawsuit that a North Little Rock hotel allegedly turned a blind eye when she was forced to work as a sex slave at one of its properties, according to a report Friday.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, says workers at the North Little Rock Motel 6 ignored her desperate cries for help between March and August last year, according to a lawsuit cited by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
“[They] knew, or should have known, through plaintiff’s visible bruising and injury, yelling and screaming for help, or her specific request of front desk personnel and the manager to call law enforcement and that [she] was in danger and needed assistance,” the lawsuit states.
The manager at the motel, which is operated independently and no longer owned by Motel 6, at one point promised to help her, but never followed through, according to the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Pulaski County Circuit Court.
Jane Doe, who is in her 30s, said she also begged front desk workers to call the police — but the manager instead went to her room and said he “would handle it,” according to the lawsuit.
“Plaintiff’s trafficker went to the manager to pay the nightly rent and the police were never called,” the suit states. “Defendants knew, or should have known, by the frequent unidentified, non-registered male guest visitors to Plaintiff’s room, that she was being trafficked.”
At one point, she got so desperate, she ripped down the curtains in her room, hoping a worker would arrive to repair them and rescue her, the suit states.
She also displayed bruises and other marks her body, inflicted by her captor, in an effort to draw attention and help from workers, according to the lawsuit.
Jane Doe eventually escaped from the motel, which is described as crime-plagued and a “well-known spot for human trafficking” in the suit.
The lawsuit accuses Stone Hospitality, which owns the Motel 6, of reckless disregard for the situation, and violating federal sex-trafficking laws. She seeks unspecified amount of financial compensation. Motel 6, which stopped its oversight of the North Little Rock location last spring, has not been named in the lawsuit, the company said.
A Motel 6 spokeswoman sent a statement Friday saying the company is committed to combatting the “horrific” practice of sex trafficking.
“Motel 6 takes a proactive, zero-tolerance stance when it comes to all forms of human trafficking,” it states. “There is nothing more important to us than the safety and well-being of our guests, our employees, and the communities in which we operate.”