ROSWELL, Ga. — The motel where a pair of teenage sisters were rescued from alleged sex trafficking is being shut down.
Roswell Mayor Kurt Wilson announced the closure during a Tuesday news conference.
The mayor says the Economy Hotel on Old Dogwood Road is being shut down because of “extensive life safety violations” combined with criminal activity at the motel over the last several years.
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He said the motel had unsafe structures, fire alarms that weren’t working, blocked emergency exits and exposed wiring.
Several people use the motel as temporary housing, so the motel is not being shut down immediately. It will officially close on Saturday.
Wilson says that the city will provide support and relocation assistance to those who will have to leave the motel.
“It is our job to protect all of them, especially those who can’t protect themselves and I would say all of the people in this hotel are great examples of people who can’t protect themselves,” Wilson said.
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A man who lived in the motel for three months says this is great news.
He told Channel 2’s Michael Seiden that he met all types of people from families with young children to prostitutes and drug dealers living in the motel.
“How much better do you feel now that you can rest your head in another place and not here?” Seiden asked him.
“It’s night and day,” he replied.
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Earlier this month, Seiden was the first to tell you about two sisters under the age of 16 who police believed were trafficking victims being rescued by police.
Six people, including motel employees, were arrested and charged in the investigation.
“In my community, we don’t ignore it, and we’re going to eradicate it,” Wilson told Seiden after the arrests were made. “If you’re a business and you participated, a real estate owner, and you’re participating in it, we’re going to shut you down.”
Seiden reached out to the owner of the hotel for a statement, but has not heard back.
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