Boy Tested for STDs After Finding Condom in Hotel Room
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(Aug. 26) – A 4-year-old boy was being tested for sexually transmitted diseases after he found a used condom in an Atlanta hotel room and tried to blow it up, thinking it was a balloon, his family said.
The boy found the condom in the sheets of a bed in the hotel where his family was staying, according to his grandmother Carmen Jones.
"He had his tongue in it," Jones said in a statement released by her lawyers. "I immediately took it out of his mouth."
The boy sickened and developed sores on his tongue not long after, Jones said. She took him to Scottish Rite Hospital in Atlanta to have him tested for sexually transmitted diseases, including herpes and HIV, a local CBS affiliate reported.
He had "little white blisters all on the top of his mouth, on his tongue, inside the mouth, inside the lip, the bottom lip. It was all over," Jones told the CBS affiliate.
Several members of the Jones family who live in Alpharetta, Ga., were staying at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in downtown Atlanta after a visit to Six Flags Over Georgia on July 31.
Jones said she was exhausted when she checked in but the next morning she noticed that the room had not been cleaned after the previous occupants left. She put a call into reception to complain. Then, when she was in the bathroom, she heard a scream, according to the statement from her lawyers.
When she came out, she says she saw her grandson with the condom in his mouth. She took it from him and was horrified to see it contained semen.
According to the statement, she then called hotel management and asked for alcohol and mouthwash for her grandson. The hotel manager came to the room, put on latex gloves and took the condom from her, citing "company policy."
The family is awaiting the results of blood tests. Jones and the boy's father fear the youngster "will suffer serious health problems from this incident," according to the statement.
Jones has since filed a report with the Atlanta Police Department and the family engaged lawyers to negotiate a settlement with the hotel. If no settlement is reached, the lawyer plans to file suit.
Wyndham Hotels said it was "disturbed to learn of the allegations," but that the hotel in question was individually owned and operated. It has been sold since the incident occurred, the hotel chain said.
"We would regret any such incident that may have occurred at any of our hotel locations," Evy Apostolatos, a spokeswoman for Wyndham Hotel Group, said in an e-mail to AOL News. "Because the incident is currently under investigation by authorities, we can offer no comment on this matter at this time."
AOL News was unable to find contact information for the previous franchise owner.
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This story is really sad.
For ongoing updates, visit hxxp://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=dnJvKQAumfIYheMrMnAdRJE-x6FZM
At the time of this post [Fri-27-Aug-2010 just past Midnight in Eastern Daylight Time], there are over 40 news posts about this.
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thats absolutly disgusting do they not clean the rooms between guests? also i wouldnt take a settlement i would take it all the way to court so that the company will be named and shamed - non of that gagging orders u get on settlements
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I guess I am a cynic. Some things about this story just don't ring true for me. Here is the original article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
hXXp://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/4-year-old-allegedly-597904.html
First problem: The kid was playing with the condom in the morning, then developed symptoms (herpes-like blisters) just a few hours later. That's too soon.
Second problem: The family says the room was not clean, and had no soap, cups, or towels. But they were "too tired" to request another room. Instead, they requested soap, cups and towels.
The kid found the condom "between the sheets." They slept in unmade beds?
Third problem: The kid's mom took the kid to a doctor the next day. Apparently not satisfied with the diagnosis, she brought him to a hospital the day after that. Then, she says, she brought him to the hospital "almost daily" for some time after that.
Daily? Why? Did she think the diagnosis was going to change? What diagnosis? She says they were still awaiting test results, three weeks later.
Third problem: The family is negotiating "a settlement" with the hotel and are threatening to sue if it does not pay them something.
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First problem: The kid was playing with the condom in the morning, then developed symptoms (herpes-like blisters) just a few hours later. That's too soon.
I saw this too.
The kid could be allergic to latex.
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doesn't the hotels have a policy to clean the room before releasing it to new guests ?
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It's not a hotel policy, it's required by law.
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With all the porn videos around that are shot in hotel rooms, it's best to put that to the back of your mind when checking in
