A boutique hotel in Medellín, known as The Gotham, has been temporarily sealed-off by authorities after an American tourist used his private room to lure two girls (ages 12 and 13) for sexual abuse. The hotel in Medellín’s El Poblado district has been temporarily closed for 10 days after an anonymous guest tipped off the police regarding the illicit activities by a foreign national.
“No one can come to Medellín to exploit our children and adolescents. The case that today outrages us, and hurts us as a city, is just the tip of the iceberg. The process will continue,” highlighted Mayor Federico Gutiérrez in a press interview. “This must be a fight for the entire society.”
In a direct message to the residents of Colombia’s second-largest city, Gutiérrez stated: “I want the whole world to know who this sexual predator is,” before confirming that a 36-year-old Ohio resident was identified as Timothy Alan Livingston.
Livingston was detained by the Valle de Aburrá Metropolitan Police after entered The Gotham with the two underage girls on the night of Thursday, March 28, yet released 12 hours later given lack of evidence. Upon his release, Livingston headed straight to José María Cordova international airport in Rio Negro, some 45 minutes from the capital of Antioquia, where he boarded a flight on Friday, March 29, to Fort Lauderdale. The Attorney General’s Office noted that the entity could proceed with a criminal investigation against the U.S. citizen.
Mayor Federico Gutiérrez assured that the 10-day closure of The Gotham is exemplary, but not enough given the surge in sex tourism in the city. “A closure of just ten days is ridiculous. I have asked that the process continue. As a society, we cannot settle for this,” he said.
Libertas International, a U.S-based human rights organization issued a statement on the closure of the Gotham Hotel, emphasizing that “Colombia continues to suffer due to the influence of predators disguised as tourists in Medellín.” The organization also thanks an “anonymous hero” who made the complaint and reported the American with two girls to the police. “Through this act, this person has likely saved these two girls from an untold amount of abuse. We hope that all parties will be responsible. Both the American who was found with the two survivors, and any person or company that has been complicit in these aberrant acts.”
Over the past several months, numerous cases of sexual abuse involving minors have been reported to authorities in Medellín, and that will result in hefty fines for apartment owners and short-term rental companies, should Colombians or foreign nationals be involved in sex trafficking and abuse of minors. “Gone are the days of the ‘we don’t know what’s happening to our tenants’ excuse,” noted Libertas, while in the same statement holding accountable “companies like Visa and Pornhub for the abuse they allow or facilitate.”
For Canadian security analyst, Hewlett F. (name changed to protect identity), the proliferation of web cam studios in Medellín are also culprits in disseminating a dangerous perception that women in Medellín are merchandise, and easy prey for sexual predators and pedophiles. “Men who pay online for visual gratification, are prone to travel to Colombia to meet women, who if offered enough money, could provide sexual services in person,” noted Hewlett. “Youtube is also rife with video content promoting Medellín as a “dating” destination. The irony is that you cannot show nudity on Youtube, but you can promote the city for a sex tourism,” he said.
Medellín’s “Fico” Gutiérrez looks to ban short-term apartment rentals in crime crackdown
