Guest claims hotel gave him wrong key, leading him to cuddle with 9-year-old girl ...sues hotel after paying fifty thousand dollar settlement to girl's parents

Daniel Hughes was found not guilty of child molestation in 2014. 'Daniel Hughes said the St. Louis Ritz-Carlton gave him the key to the wrong room, leading to him crawl into bed with a 9-year-old girl.'

.... Okay, another variant of  'the dog ate my homework'

Ritz-Carlton guest says he crawled into bed and cuddled with a 9-year-old stranger only because the hotel staff gave him the wrong key.

Convicted  sodomy and child molestation for the middle-of-the-night mix-up — is suing the luxury hotel

Suing hotel, claims he lost his $1 million job, amid the lawsuit and trial 

A St. Louis Ritz-Carlton guest says he crawled into bed and cuddled with a 9-year-old stranger only because the hotel staff gave him the wrong key.

Daniel Hughes — who was found not guilty of sodomy and child molestation for the middle-of-the-night mix-up — is suing the luxury hotel, claiming he lost his high-paying job over the charges. Hughes, from Pennsylvania, was staying at the Missouri hotel during a March 2011 business trip. Prosecutors claimed the then 42-year-old crept into the hotel bed of a 9-year-old girl and sexually touched her.
Hughes, who is from Pennsylvania, was staying at the Missouri hotel during a March 2011 business trip. Prosecutors claimed the then 42-year-old crept into the hotel bed of a 9-year-old girl and sexually touched her.
But Hughes said he just cuddled with the kid — and only got into bed with her because he thought she was a woman he met earlier in the evening, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Hughes said he had been staying at another hotel for the first part of the business trip in room 1619. He was assigned to room 811 in the Ritz, but got the numbers mixed up and tried his key in room 1611. 




When his key for room 811 didn’t work, he went to the front desk, which gave him a copy of the key for 1611. The staff didn’t check his ID or didn’t look up his name and room number in hotel files, he claimed. He went back to room 1611, stripped down and got in bed with the girl, believing she was a woman who was sleeping back in room 811, he said.

Google MapsDaniel Hughes said the St. Louis Ritz-Carlton gave him the key to the wrong room, leading to him crawl into bed with a 9-year-old girl.

Hughes was charged with three counts of child molestation and one count of statutory sodomy, but was cleared of all charges during a 2014 trial. He settled a lawsuit filed by the girl’s parents shortly after, paying the family $50,000. The hotel also paid the family an undisclosed amount.
The businessman claimed he lost his job amid the lawsuit and trial — a position that would have paid him $1 million in 2015, he said.





Courtesy: Nytimes