Friday, January 14, 2005
D.A. BROWN: ELMONT MAN SENTENCED TO UP TO SIX YEARS IN PRISON FOR FORCING 13 AND 14 YEAR OLD GIRLS INTO PROSTITUTION
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that an Elmont, Long Island man has been sentenced to up to six years in prison for forcing two underage runaway girls -- a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old-- into a life of prostitution.
District Attorney Brown said, “The defendant lured the victims -- two young and vulnerable girls -- into his prostitution operation, repeatedly sexually attacked and beat them and forced them to perform various sexual acts with scores of male customers, retaining the criminal proceeds for himself. The case proves that prostitution is not a victimless crime but rather a despicable offense against society committed by predators who enslave young women a day at a time.”
According to the District Attorney, the defendant lured his young victims into the sex trade, put them to “work” on Rockaway Boulevard in Jamaica, forced them to perform repeated “tricks” with male customers in cheap hotels, engaged in sexual acts with them and retained the proceeds.
District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Woodolph Romeo, 25, currently of 2270 Baylis Avenue in Elmont, New York in Nassau County. The defendant pled guilty to Attempted Promoting Prostitution in the Second on November 16, 2004 before Queens Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Chin-Brandt who imposed today’s sentence of two to six years in prison.
District Attorney Brown said that according to the charges the defendant forced two runaway girls -- a 14-year-old and a 13-year-old from Nassau County -- to work for him as prostitutes between October 2001 and May 2004 on Rockaway Boulevard and North Conduit Avenue, also known as “the Track,” in Jamaica, Queens. The two females worked for the defendant at the intersection three or four times a week and performed sex acts for money with up to 15 males each night. In September 2002 the 14-year-old female performed oral sex on the defendant on about five different occasions and that between February and June 2004 the defendant engaged in sexual intercourse and oral sex with the 13-year-old girl. The defendant kept the 13-year-old victim at 133-32 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard in Jamaica, his former residence, and the 13-year-old victim feared that if she left the residence she would be physically assaulted. In December 2002, the defendant punched the 14-year-old victim in the face and caused her to sustain a scar underneath her right eye.
According to the District Attorney, the defendant required that the 14-year-old victim earn at least $500 a night, that both young women had to charge males $40 to $50 for oral sex and $80 to $100 for sexual intercourse and that both victims had to give him all their prostitution earnings. Additionally, the defendant sometimes beat the 14-year-old victim if she failed to bring him at least $500 a night.
The investigation was conducted by Detective Ralph Mosca of the New York City Police Department’s Juvenile Crimes Squad under the supervision of Sergeant Sue McConnell and Detective Mike Failla of the 113th Precinct Detective Unit under the supervision of Lieutenant Michelle Kaiser and in conjunction with the District Attorney’s Special Proceedings Bureau.
Assistant District Attorney Susan Lee Kim of the District Attorney's Special Proceedings Bureau prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Anthony M. Communiello, Chief, and Oscar W. Ruiz, Deputy Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.