An area state senator who has written multiple pieces of legislation related to sex-trafficking laws in Arkansas is taking note of a lawsuit in which a jury handed down one of the state’s biggest verdicts. Missy Irvin of Mountain View is reportedly planning to meet with the victim’s attorneys and draft a bill this session in hopes of making it easier to hold people accountable.
According to Little Rock television station KATV, 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 allegedly ignored the signs the crime was happening right under their noses. From August to December of 2019, the unidentified female was reportedly sex-trafficked at America’s Best Value Inn on South Shackleford Road in Little Rock.
Meredith Moore, one of the victim’s attorneys, told the TV station, “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.” The victim was also represented by Denise Hoggard and Eric Wewers. Moore, Hoggard and Wewers are attorneys at Rainwater, Holt and Sexton, a law firm with seven offices throughout Arkansas and one in Memphis.
Moore claimed motel owners Patel Legacy Hotel LL, including Jay Patel, knew sex-trafficking was occurring, and the jury agreed. Moore goes on to say, “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. 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.”
Hoggard says current laws make it difficult to prove that often business owners are just as responsible as the trafficker. She tells KATV, “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.”
Sen. Irvin represents District 24, including Searcy and Stone counties and a portion of Newton County.
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