March 11, 2023 8:30am EST
Predators targeting women staying at popular hotel chains in horrifying crime trend: report
Holiday Inn Express, Hilton among hotels where predators have obtained female guests' hotel key cards without proof of ID
By Emma Colton FOXBusiness
A terrifying crime wave of rapists allegedly targeting women in hotel rooms is unfolding at well-known hotel chains in the U.S., a new report has found.
"I think this has been a longstanding modus operandi. I think what’s new is that survivors are willing to come forward and that the climate is changing so that perpetrators and systems are being held accountable," Emilee D. Whitehurst of the Houston Area Women’s Center told the New York Post.
The outlet found various cases, most notably in Texas, where criminals managed to get key cards to hotel rooms by allegedly lying to staff. The criminals then enter the rooms of women and rape or attempt to sexually assault them, according to the New York Post.
In one disturbing incident at a Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Gonzales, Texas, a woman allegedly woke up in her hotel room last year to a man with his pants undone.
"The woman was asleep and she woke up to the man crouched at the foot of her bed with his pants undone and a condom out," a lawyer for the unidentified victim told the outlet.
"She was able to scream and get him out of the room, and she immediately called down to the front desk. They admitted, ‘Oh yes, we did give a key to the man. He said he knew you,’" the attorney recounted.
The suspect allegedly got into the room after getting a key from the front desk. He was arraigned on a felony charge of attempted sexual assault, and his case is working its way through the court system.
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https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/predators-targeting-women-staying-popular-hotel-chains-horrifying-crime-trend-report
