Hinesville community reacts to two local hotels named in federal sex trafficking lawsuits

HINESVILLE, Ga. (WTOC) - Two Hinesville hotels are facing federal lawsuits, after attorneys said teenagers were sex trafficked in each hotel.

The lawsuits claim it all happened inside Hinesville’s Baymont by Wyndham and Motel 6.

We do want to warn you, some of what you will read will be graphic.

These two hotels are about one mile away from each other.

The lawsuits claim an incident at the Baymont by Wyndham involved a 16-year-old in 2015, and the incident at the Motel 6 involved an 18- to 19-year-old starting in 2020.

We want to focus on that Motel 6 incident, as the community begins to process that a teenager may have been sexually assaulted hundreds of times in their own neighborhood.

A community in shock after learning about claims of sex trafficking at a Hinesville Motel 6 in 2020 and 2021.

“These are our kids, these are our babies,” said Damete Doughty.

Back in 2020, attorneys said an 18 to 19-year old girl was brought to the Motel 6 by a man who beat and raped the teenager while selling her as a sex salve where she was sexually assaulted hundreds of times.

Attorneys said the man would use the motel’s Wi-Fi to post advertisements that the teenager was there and would use money from the sex acts to purchase stays at the motel.

As attorneys filed federal lawsuits on the teenagers' behalf against the motel’s owner, they say the owner, at minimum, should have known the teenager was being trafficked for sex at the motel.

They said motel staff should have also known something was wrong as the teenager appeared malnourished, dressed in revealing “uniforms”, large numbers of condoms and sex toys were found in the rooms, and dirty sheets with blood on them were left behind.

Now, teenagers working in the area are shocked something like this could have happened so close.

“It could’ve been anybody close to me, it could’ve been me,” said Razalynn Daniels who works near Motel 6. “Hearing it happen so close to where I work is terrifying.”

Parents are forced to grip the reality that their kids could have been in danger.

“It could’ve been anybody. It could’ve been my kids, players I coach, my friends' kids or something like that,” said Brandon Holden who also works near Motel 6.

Again, this is just one of the sex trafficking cases we’re currently following out of Hinesville.

For a full look into both incidents, click here.

If you or someone you may know is being trafficked, you can call the National Human Trafficking hotline toll free at (888) 373-7888. To report a suspected human tracking in Georgia you can call the 24-Hour Human Trafficking Hotline at (866) 363-4842. You can also click here for more information on how to get help for victims of human trafficking.