A California woman filed a federal lawsuit against a company that owns two upscale apartment complexes in SF’s South Beach neighborhood — Avalon Mission Bay and South Beach Marina Apartments, saying they were aware that she was being sex trafficked there at age 17.

As the Chronicle reports, a woman identified as AV is suing Avalonbay Communities Inc., along with other unidentified corporations and individuals, alleging that staff at two of the company’s properties, Avalon Mission Bay and South Beach Marina Apartments looked the other way when she and other underage girls were being housed and trafficked on the premises. As About Lawsuits reports, AV says the abuse took place for about two years in 2018 and 2019 when she was still in high school.

Per the Chronicle, AV and other survivors were rescued when the FBI arrested the man who trafficked them. The man was given the pseudonym “Tom Roe,” making it unclear when he was arrested or whether he was charged.

Per About Lawsuits, the lawsuit says Roe chose the high-end apartment complexes to appeal to potential customers, alleging that employees at the apartments routinely witnessed victims being escorted by different men in and out of each property around the clock while heavily drugged and wearing revealing clothing. The lawsuit says employees accepted payment for staying quiet and told victims to hide their faces while entering and exiting the properties, per About Lawsuits.

“Roe purposefully placed his trafficked women, including Plaintiff, at luxury apartment buildings to attract wealthier clientele, Tom Roe moved between apartments when another luxury apartment became available,” states the lawsuit, per All Apartments.

Per the Chronicle, rent at the properties ranged from $7,500 to $10,000, which Roe paid in cash. AV’s attorneys said she was drugged with cocaine, marijuana, and Xanax and was often physically harmed for not obeying orders. The lawsuit says AV and other victims were given tattoos of an uncorked bottle of wine on their inner thighs.

“This case seeks to hold accountable the apartment complexes and their respective shareholders, owners, security teams and agents who benefited from the horrors inflicted on (the) Plaintiff,” attorneys for AV said in the lawsuit, per the Chronicle.

Image: South Beach Marina Apartments