Kavankumar Patel, a 27-year-old Indian man who worked as a staff member at a hotel in Nebraska, USA, was sentenced to ten years in prison for having sex with a trafficked teenager.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska said in a statement that Patel and other hotel workers allegedly engaged in sexual acts with two trafficked minors, ages 15 and 16, who were brought from out-of-state to the AmericInn hotel in Omaha “for the purpose of commercial sex trafficking.”
After being recovered from the hotel, the two minors told authorities that the traffickers instructed them to have sex with hotel staff in order to get cheaper rates so they would not be kicked out.
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patel from gujaratSentenced in Omaha federal court on two counts of sex trafficking of minors. The 27-year-old also faces deportation after serving his sentence because he is in the United States illegally.
Employees paid traffickers, and Patel paid with hotel money
Patel admitted using hotel money to pay traffickers to have sex with a minor at the hotel. In addition to Patel, two other hotel employees paid the traffickers to have sex with one of the minors, and a third hotel employee had sex with another minor, district attorney officials said.
Hotel staff allowed minors and their traffickers to stay at the hotel for multiple days. Traffickers also post advertisements for commercial sex acts and arrange such acts inside hotels. Minors reported that they were given virtually no food and were forced to perform actions dictated by their captors without any choice.
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How did the crime come to light?
The Omaha Police Department received a report of theft on January 6, 2025, and responding officers discovered signs of sex trafficking. “The Homeland Security Task Force and the Omaha Police Department immediately began an investigation and located two minor females, ages 15 and 16,” the District Attorney’s Office said.
Since there are no parole provisions in the U.S. federal system, Patel will begin five years of supervised release at the end of his ten-year term. Meanwhile, the Homeland Security Task Force rescued the minors. “… Anyone who knows or suspects human trafficking in our communities should contact state or federal law enforcement immediately to report these issues,” the prosecutor’s office said.
