The 15-year-old girl was given the illusion of safety and comfort but instead lived a life of horror for half a year in 2013.

A group of sex traffickers “kidnapped” the Minnesota girl, threatened her, advertised her body online and forced her to have sex for money at a suburban hotel, according to a group of attorneys now representing the survivor.

“After acquiescing to her traffickers demands under the constant threat of violence, she began to find herself forced to do increasingly depraved things, in increasingly depraved locations, such as the Brooklyn Center Super 8,” attorney Jeffrey Monpetit wrote in a federal civil complaint filed against managers of the hotel in which the girl, identified only as T.S., endured repeated torment.

First filed late last year, T.S.’s lawsuit is leaning on two federal laws that allow victims of sex trafficking to hold businesses civilly liable for facilitating their abuse. Now 26, T.S. is suing Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc., Sarah Hospitality, Inc., Wyndham Hotel Group, LLC and Super 8 Worldwide, Inc. — all entities with varying degrees of control and oversight of the Brooklyn Center Super 8 at which the alleged sex trafficking took place.

Erica MacDonald, a former U.S. Attorney for Minnesota who is now leading the legal team defending the hotel management group, wrote in a recent response to the lawsuit that the defendants “deny any liability for sex trafficking.” She previously cast doubt on T.S.’s lawsuit by saying it relied on news stories, online travel reviews and general information that was not enough to show that Wyndham interacted with the traffickers or should have known that T.S. was being trafficked at the hotel.

But T.S. won a key legal victory recently when Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz refused to dismiss the case, instead ruling that the survivor had “plausibly alleged” Wyndham and its franchisee, Sarah Hospitality, facilitated her traffickers and benefited from her harm.

“We are very pleased with Judge Schiltz’s ruling, we look forward to proceeding with discovery and the eventual trial of our client’s case,” Monpetit told the Star Tribune last week. “We are also happy for our client and what the ruling means moving forward for her and the many other victims of sex trafficking.”

The Star Tribune left a message seeking comment from Wyndham, as well as information about the company’s training and policies for identifying and stopping suspected sex trafficking.

A man fatally stabbed his wife of 65 years last week and told police, “I guess I lost my head,” according to murder charges.

Rodney Allen Andersen, 85, of Annandale, was charged in Wright County District Court with second-degree murder in connection with the attack in the couple’s home Thursday.

Andersen was arrested at the scene and remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail. He’s due back in court on Thursday. Court records do not list an attorney for him.

According to the criminal complaint:

Andersen called Annandale police about 9:45 a.m., said he stabbed his wife, 83-year-old Janet Louise Andersen, and was unsure whether she was alive. Officers arrived to find him sitting on steps just inside the front door of the home on W. Knollwood Street.

Officers entered and saw a shaken Rodney Andersen still on the steps. His hands were on his head and looking down. The officers found his wife dead on the kitchen floor from stab wounds to her abdomen. A bloodied large kitchen knife was in the sink.

He told police that he and his wife had been married for 65 years. He said they were arguing that morning, as they often did, and “I guess I lost my head” before stabbing her.

Earlier this year, the district hired a plumber to replace fixtures with high lead levels. If a tap shows lead levels above five parts per billion, the water is shut off and a work order is put in, Bergstrom said. St. Paul schools facilities staff also aims to install additional filtered water fountains in buildings, for which the state offers grant money.

In Fridley schools, maintenance staff recently conducted an audit of each water fixture and implemented a schedule for custodians to flush the plumbing. The state Department of Health recommends running water through pipes to clear any stagnant supply after school breaks stretching longer than a week.

“We want this to be the last worry for our families and want them to know we’re on top of things,” said Rochelle Cox, senior officer of operations for Fridley schools. She added that testing reports and monitoring plans are available on the district website.

Jim Muenzenmeyer, buildings and grounds director for Eastern Carver County schools said the district’s previous threshold was 20 parts per billion.

“We had no problem getting to that,” he said, adding that bringing all the district’s drinking water below the new standard will be “fairly easy” but take more staff time.

Some of the highest readings are in “low-flow situations” — sinks in unused corners of older schools, like in a long-shuttered dark room once used to develop film, Muenzenmeyer said. Those taps may require a more frequent flushing schedule or removal if they are no longer needed, he said.