Not For Sale: Suit Against Cobb Hotel Targets Sex Trafficking

EDITOR'S NOTE: As Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta approaches, more attention is being focused on the issue of child sex trafficking. Patch is committed to covering this international plague with a focus on local efforts to combat the crime. This is the latest in a series of articles on child sex trafficking as it relates to one of the world's biggest sporting events, which will happen on Feb. 3, 2019, in Atlanta.

MARIETTA, GA -- The Cobb County District Attorney's office has reached a court-approved agreement requiring the operator of a Cobb hotel known for frequent drug arrests and suspected sex trafficking to make changes or risk losing the property to forfeiture.

The owner and operator of The Masters Inn at 2682 Windy Hill Road in Marietta must take several steps to improve the business and property, including contacting and cooperating with police regarding any suspected criminal activity there; requiring valid photo identification of all patrons; maintaining complete and accurate guest rosters as well as a ‘no rent’ list of people previously arrested there; requiring all staff to undergo training to recognize and prevent human trafficking; hiring at least one licensed and armed security guard; installing proper outdoor lighting, high-quality video surveillance, and fencing; and disallowing loitering.

Georgia’s “Public Nuisance” laws allow district attorneys to bring a civil suit to abate substantial drug-related activity that occurs at a specific property. This case, brought in Cobb Superior Court, is believed to be one of the first such suits in Georgia aimed at also curbing suspected sex trafficking.

In 2018, an Atlanta-based nonprofit known as CLAWS – Civil Lawyers Against World Sex Slavery – met with Cobb police and the Cobb DA and began collecting data on local hotels and motels with high arrest rates on their property for drugs, prostitution, and human trafficking. The Masters Inn was known to police officers as a “notorious hotbed of criminal activity that has been the subject of countless investigations,” according to the suit.

In one instance in October 2017, Cobb police arrested Anthony Dobson on felony drug charges at The Masters Inn. While there, police found evidence that Dobson had been holding a female against her will and trafficking her for sex out of his room. The woman was rescued from the situation but refused to go on record against Dobson because she feared for her life. Dobson had also been arrested for drugs at the same location the month prior.

SEE ALSO: Not For Sale: Buses In Midtown Raise Sex Trafficking Awareness

AND: Not For Sale: Fighting Sex Trafficking As Super Bowl Nears

Deputy Chief ADA Chuck Boring, who heads the Special Victims Unit, said it’s not unusual for victims of human trafficking to not cooperate in prosecuting their captors.

“They’ve been conditioned not to cooperate with police, and to cover for their exploiters,” Boring said. “This type of criminal act goes beyond just being a public nuisance. It is an evil that we are seeking to eradicate in Cobb County.”

Although Georgia’s nuisance statutes do not specifically address human trafficking, high drug activity is often part and parcel of an environment where sex trafficking occurs. Human traffickers often use drugs to maintain control over their victims, as police noted when rescuing Dobson’s victim at The Masters Inn.

Civil attorneys Jason Nohr, of Marietta, and Karine Burney, of Atlanta, were sworn in as Special Assistant District Attorneys for this case.

“This suit is one of the first of its kind in Georgia,” Nohr said. “Human trafficking is such a gut-wrenching crisis and we know, unfortunately, that Atlanta is a hub for this activity. Although criminals are prosecuted, the crime doesn’t stop as long as they have safe harbor with hotel operators who look the other way. We believe this is the first step in an exciting, creative partnership with the DA’s Office to make a real impact on this crisis.”

Their nonprofit, CLAWS, has also met with the Attorney General’s Office, lawmakers, and representatives of the hotel industry regarding the issue.

Under the agreement, the requirements survive any sale or transfer of the property. The court will hold periodic compliance hearings, with the first set for 9 a.m. on March 14 before Cobb Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs.

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