Kline & Specter is a national leader against those who profit from sex trafficking, conduct that has been described as an epidemic in the United States.
Our firm filed the first civil suit under the Pennsylvania human trafficking statute permitting victims to sue hotel managers and owners who permit exploitation. We have since filed many similar lawsuits against establishments where this horrible conduct was committed.
If you or someone you care about was the victim of sex trafficking, our caring and committed attorneys can help. We will review your case for free and with absolute confidentiality. Kline & Specter, with 60 attorneyss, five of whom are also medical doctors, has the experience and expertise to help.
Several of our attorneys are dedicated largely to helping the victims of sexual abuse. Tom Kline, Nadeem Bezar and Emily Marks, lawyers with many years of experience with sexual abuse litigation, filed suit in 2017 under a newly enacted Pennsylvania human trafficking statute against the owner and manager of the Roosevelt Inn in Northeast Philadelphia on behalf of a teenage girl who was enslaved and forced to perform sexual acts over nearly two years. Numerous lawsuits against other hotels have followed.
Kline & Specter has won substantial verdicts and settlements against sexual abusers, including the largest-ever settlement against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Tom Kline represented “Victim No. 5” in the infamous Jerry Sandusky scandal that resulted in Penn State agreeing to pay $60 million to all the victims involved in the litigation.
A few other examples: The firm won a $5.35 million verdict against Presbyterian Children’s Village for twice placing a young girl in a temporary foster home where she was sexually molested. Nadeem Bezar won an $11 million verdict against a child placement agency and the adoptive parents of a girl who was physically and sexually abused in their home over several years.
Sex trafficking: An epidemic
Human sex trafficking has been called an epidemic by a number of organizations. According to the National Human Trafficking Resources Center, 17,819 incidents of sex trafficking were reported in the United States over a 10-year period. But those were just the reported cases, with the actual number estimated to be much larger.
Victims are of various ages and backgrounds, but many are young. They include immigrants who are lured to the United States with the promise of jobs as well as American citizens, often runaways, who are kidnapped or lured into the illegal sex trade. Often these girls and women are held captive and transported to places where they are forced perform sex acts for days at a time.
A 2014 Pennsylvania law allows these establishments to be held civilly accountable for turning a blind eye to this crime taking place at their establishments.
At a news conference held to announce a lawsuit against one hotel owner, Bezar told the news media: “The victimization of these young girls should not be tolerated. The criminal process has punished the traffickers. It’s now time to hold the hotel owners accountable. Plain and simple, it’s not acceptable to profit from the sexual assault of children.”