TRIGGER WARNING: This story discusses child sex trafficking and sexual exploitation.
If you or someone you know may be experiencing human trafficking, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 or text 233733. In an emergency, call 911.
At 15 years old, J.R. was walking alone down Old National Highway on a cold, rainy night when an older man approached her and offered food and a place to stay.
It was 2020. J.R. had spent parts of her childhood in Georgia’s foster care system, moving between her mother, father, DFCS and different group homes, according to her attorney, Patrick McDonough. Just before she was trafficked, she and another teenager had run away from a group home and later became separated.
Six years later, on Sept. 24, 2026, a federal jury awarded J.R. $164 million following a three-day trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The jury awarded $44 million in compensatory damages and $120 million in punitive damages against Lincoln Bancorp LLC, operator of the Super 8 at 4979 Old National Highway.
McDonough, lead counsel and head of the sex trafficking division at Andersen, Tate & Carr, said J.R.’s testimony was central to the case.
“The most important evidence at trial was certainly our client, J.R.,” McDonough said. “She just was so believable.”
According to McDonough, Lincoln Bancorp admitted at the beginning of the trial that it should have known what was occurring at the property. McDonough argued that the evidence went further, showing that employees knew about the trafficking and assisted traffickers.
J.R. testified that she once approached the hotel’s owner seeking directions to a train station and asked to use a phone, hoping to escape. Both requests were refused, McDonough said.
Two former housekeepers also testified that employees warned traffickers when police arrived, according to McDonough. J.R. and two other minors who were trafficked at the hotel testified during the trial.
The case included claims under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which provides trafficking survivors a civil avenue to pursue those who knowingly benefit from participation in a venture they knew or should have known was engaged in trafficking.
McDonough said hotel employees can play a critical role in identifying trafficking because they have opportunities to notice repeated patterns that an ordinary guest may not see.
“The real ones that make the difference are the people that are living and working there because they see it every day,” McDonough said.
He said hotel companies should go beyond providing training materials by verifying that employees complete training, conducting unannounced inspections and ensuring franchisees enforce anti-trafficking policies.
The verdict does not mean J.R. will immediately receive $164 million. McDonough said he expects post-trial motions and an appeal, potentially extending the legal process for years.
But J.R.’s role in that process is largely finished.
“She won’t have to get up and testify again,” McDonough said. “She’s done the hard part.”
For McDonough, the case also carries a message for Atlantans who may think trafficking is something that happens somewhere else.
“Just that it’s here,” McDonough said. “I mean, it’s in our backyard. … It is not somebody else’s problem, right? It’s our problem. It’s our children. It’s our most vulnerable children.”
J.R. eventually escaped her traffickers at 17 and went to police. Today, McDonough said, she is a mother who has built a life for herself.
For the child who once asked a hotel employee for help and, according to her testimony, did not receive it, McDonough said the verdict offered something she had long gone without: someone believing her.
“I don’t think she’s ever had an adult believe her in her life,” McDonough said. “I think this jury spoke volumes when they said, ‘We believe what you went through is horrific.’”
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