Workers at two luxury apartments took cash to ignore sex trafficking: lawsuit

Employees at two luxury San Francisco apartment complexes allegedly accepted hefty bribes to turn a blind eye to a sex trafficking ring that sold underage girls on the properties, according to a new federal lawsuit.

The stomach-churning allegations were laid out in the complaint filed this month against AvalonBay Communities and South Beach Marina Apartments by an alleged victim who endured near-daily exploitation between 2018-19.

The victim, identified only as A.V. in the court documents, was just 17 years old when she was “forced into the life of involuntary sexual servitude” by a “notorious sex trafficker” named in the filing as Tom Roe.

Her nightmare allegedly began in the fall of 2018, when A.V. was still a high school student, according to the suit.

A.V. and two other alleged victims were forced to live in a $7,500-per-month, one-bedroom apartment on Townsend Street in a sprawling waterfront complex owned by South Beach Marina, the suit claimed.

The building, which features a tennis court, pool, sauna and panoramic views of the bay, was used as “headquarters of Tom Roe’s sex trafficking scheme,” according to the filing.

A.V. and the alleged sex ring would be moved to the AvalonBay Community at Mission Bay later that year because Roe thought the $10,000-per-month complex was “more luxurious,” the suit states.

Both apartments were allegedly used as brothels. Roe would station the women at nearby nightclubs and throughout the neighborhood to pick up wealthy men and bring them back to the units he leased under one of his victims’ names, the documents allege.

“Tom Roe would pay his rent in cash, as well as pay the front doormen and security individuals who would then be invited as clients back to the apartments,” the filing claims.

The doormen would allegedly allow the Johns to walk into the buildings uninterrupted if they were identified as Roe’s clientele — despite not being residents of the apartments.

“Occasionally, the maintenance staff for the Defendants would be present when the trafficking occurred and would witness the commercial sex acts or exchange payments while working inside the unit,” the suit states.

A.V. was allegedly manipulated and intimidated through drugs and violence — and was even branded on her inner thigh to identify her as one of Roe’s women, the lawsuit claims.

Her unique 10-inch tattoo was an “uncorked Rose wine tattoo, which was tilted toward her genitals and splashing its contents toward her genitals,” according to the docs.

When she didn’t make enough money, Roe and his associates would allegedly beat A.V. and withhold the drugs that he made her dependent on, the suit claims.

“At all times, Plaintiff was afraid to leave,” the filing said.

A.V., now around 25, is accusing the AvalonBay Communities and South Beach Marina Apartments of emotional distress and negligence and requested a jury trial. 

“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 Plaintiff,” attorneys with Sbaiti & Co. said in the lawsuit. 

Roe was eventually arrested as part of an FBI sting, allowing A.V. to escape, the filing states.

The FBI could not immediately return inquiries about an arrest or charges fitting the crime from that time.

Neither apartment complex immediately responded to The Post’s request for comment.