Victim count in Brooklyn Center sex sting grows to 30

Thank you. We last reported there were 18 victims tied to a sex trafficking raid at Brooklyn Center Hotels. Now that number has risen to 30. There are not any charges yet stemming from the sting at the Super 8 Travel Lodge. Fox 9's Emily Popal joining us live to talk about this. And so Emily, you spoke with an attorney representing a sex trafficking victim and he has some unanswered questions. Right, so one of these hotels, the Super 8, was first busted for sex trafficking more than 10 years ago. The questions tonight, how did this keep happening and who's to blame? Boarded up for months now, all that's left is the shell of Brooklyn Center's Super 8 and a whole lot of questions in City Hall. What, if any, responsibility does Wyndham have? Or liability does Wyndham have? It's the same question attorney Jeffrey Montpetit has been trying to answer for three years. I wasn't surprised. To say the least, when I saw it. Montpetit filed a lawsuit against the Super 8 and franchisor Wyndham. He's representing a woman who says she was trafficked there in 2013. And he says Wyndham is partly to blame. How do you go about proving that? You need to prove that the establishment profited. Obviously, they rented a room where the victim was trafficked. Is that profit? It seems to me that it is. The victim identified as TS in his suit was just 15 at the time. She says she saw up to 20 johns per day and often interacted with the same hotel staff who should have noticed sex trafficking red flags like visible bruising, being forced to wear provocative clothing in common areas and a nervous and fearful demeanor. People just can't be afraid to ask questions. People can't be afraid to report things to the police. Montpetit isn't representing any of the 30 victims identified in the September raid, but he's closely following the investigation. What can be done to make this Horrible tragedy for her, never happened again to a young woman like her. He hopes for an answer to that question, even as he knows this latest bust isn't an end to sex trafficking in the community. The question is, where is it going now? I've twice asked Wyndham about these two cases, but they haven't responded. Montpetit, meanwhile, says that his client is trying to stay positive. He says every day is a fight, and he calls her a warrior. Those 30 new victims perhaps just starting that journey. In Brooklyn Center, Emily Popal, Fox 9. All right, Emily, thank you.