ATLANTA — A jury heard new testimony in the case from women who accused the Red Roof Inn of benefiting from a sex trafficking operation at two of its Buckhead and Smyrna locations.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was live outside of the Federal Courthouse in downtown Atlanta. Earlier, the president of the hotel chain admitted he knew about the accusations.
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It was a shock to learn that someone in his type of leadership role admitted to knowing there were sex trafficking allegations out there. For years, he kept saying he didn’t know what this type of sex trafficking looked like, but jurors saw the former president’s emails on Friday.
Those emails said it plainly.
During the hearing on Friday, three witnesses gave testimonies saying how sex traffickers terrorized their lives.
The witnesses described how the hotel workers looked the other way, even when there were teen girls paying cash for rooms.
The women said they were forced to have sex with clients, then forced to give the money to the traffickers who sat in the parking lot smoking marijuana and playing music.
Red Roof Inn denied knowing about the sex trafficking and denied being involved.
The last witness to be heard Friday afternoon was the then-president, Andrew Alexander.
Jurors watched his deposition where he admitted he received seven emails that said the Smyrna location had alleged sex trafficking going on and that the brand was threatened.
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When asked why the managers at that location didn’t report the trafficking to the police, he said there were several reasons.
“We needed to take a balanced approach to profiling, discrimination, and the trafficking aspect of it all,” said Alexander.
The trial continues on Monday.
The witnesses who have testified so far said they didn’t want to dig up all the horrible memories and motions that come with with, but they have to be a voice for the voiceless.
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