Case of Staff Pimping Kids at Wyndham Hotel Sparks Movement

From 2006 to 2011, for at least 16 teen and preteen girls, hell was a Travelodge hotel in San Diego. That's because the staff of that hotel were actively helping members of the gang The Crips to force them into prostitution. For six years, Travelodge staff acted as lookouts, pocketed bribe money, and even let traffickers use the hotel computer to post ads for commercial sex with minors online. Now, the incident has inspired a movement asking Wyndham Hotel Group to prevent such horrific misuse of their property by signing the Code of Conduct to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism.

The Crips gang in San Diego ran a child sex trafficking ring of at least 16 girls out of various area hotels, two of which were owned by the Wyndham group -- a Travelodge and a Howard Johnson. At the Howard Johnson, hotel staff neglected to take any action to protect the long parade of children who were being ushered in to be raped, but the Travelodge staff actually assisted the pimps. Two members of the Travelodge staff, both of whom were indicted for their crimes, allowed the gang members to use the hotel computer to post online ads advertising sex with minors. They also knowingly rented rooms for use in prostitution, charged higher rates for rooms to be used for child sex trafficking and pocketed the difference, and warned the pimps if police were nearby.

San Diego native Tim Rosner was perusing the Sand Diego Union-Tribune when he stumbled upon an article about the bust that brought this trafficking ring to local police attention.

"Although I no longer live in San Diego, I consider it my hometown and like to keep up-to-date with the latest news from the area," said Rosner. "Recently I read about a child sex trafficking ring that had been broken-up in San Diego. While I was happy to know that it had been uncovered, and the victims had been removed from their horrific situation, I was saddened that something like this could occur in an otherwise fantastic city. I became even more concerned when I learned that the staff of the hotels used by the perpetrators were not only complicit, but active accomplices to these terrifying crimes."

That's why Rosner started a campaign on Change.org, asking the Wyndham Hotel Group to sign the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, which is overseen by child protection NGO ECPAT. Wyndam Hotels do have policies against child sex trafficking, but the San Diego cases made it clear that these self-imposed rules weren't actually protecting children from harm and preventing the properties from being used for human trafficking.

"As a leader in the hospitality industry, it's important that Wyndam Hotels take action to show they are serious about supporting the fight against human trafficking," said Rosner. "That's why this petition is so critical. Hopefully Wyndam will respond to the outcry over these horrific acts and take the opportunity to become a role-model in the global fight against human trafficking.

You can help prevent abuses like these from occurring at Wyndham properties in your hometown by asking the Wyndham Hotel Group to sign the ECPAT code of Conduct. Hotels have a responsibility to make an effort to prevent child sex trafficking on their properties, and it's obvious that Wyndham needs to bump up their efforts, big time.

Photo credit: johnburridge