Thursday, June 2, 2005
D.A. BROWN: ROSEDALE MAN -- ALREADY SERVING FIFTEEN YEARS IN PRISON FOLLOWING ROBBERY CONVICTION -- SENTENCED TO ADDITIONAL SIX YEARS IN PRISON FOR FORCING 15-YEAR-OLD RUNAWAY INTO PROSTITUTION
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that a Rosedale, Queens man -- already serving fifteen years in prison following robbery conviction -- has been sentenced to an additional two to six years in prison for forcing a 15-year-old upstate runaway into a life of prostitution.
District Attorney Brown said, “According to the charges, the defendant purchased the victim -- a young and vulnerable girl -- for the sum of $500 from an unapprehended other and placed her into his prostitution operation, repeatedly sexually attacking her and forcing her to perform various sexual acts with scores of male customers, retaining the criminal proceeds for himself. The case clearly shows that prostitution is not a victimless crime but rather a despicable offense against society committed by predators who enslave vulnerable young women a day at a time.”
District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Jackson Metellus, 24, of 246-08 139th Avenue in Rosedale, Queens. The defendant pled guilty to Promoting Prostitution in the Second Degree on May 24, 2004 before Queens Supreme Court Justice Barry Kron who imposed today’s sentence of two to six years in prison to run consecutive to the 15 years in prison to which the defendant was sentenced in September 2004 by Queens Supreme Court Justice Roberta L. Dunlop after being convicted after a jury trial of Robbery in the First Degree.
According to the District Attorney, the defendant forced his 15-year-old victim to engage in sexual intercourse and oral sex with males on at least 15 occasions between January 20 and February 29, 2004 so that the defendant could earn the $500 which he paid to acquire the victim. The victim was taken to different motels within Queens County to have sex with various males. For approximately one month the defendant kept the victim locked in the basement of a house where his father, Jacques Metellus, 51, resided at 246-08 139th Avenue in Jamaica, Queens.
The District Attorney said that during this period, the defendant’s father, Jacques Metellus, had sexual intercourse with the victim and subsequently pled guilty to Rape in the Third Degree on May 4, 2004 before Queens Supreme Court Justice James P. Griffin who sentenced him to 30 days in jail and 10 years probation.
District Attorney Brown said that the case represents the fourth felony conviction linked to the 15-year-old victim. The two other convictions were of Michael Streat, 28, and Christine Waltzer, 26, both of 108-47 164th Street in Jamaica, Queens, who both pled guilty to Promoting Prostitution in the Second Degree on October 27, 2004 before Queens Supreme Court Justice Seymour Rotker who sentenced them to three to nine years in prison.
The investigation was conducted by Detectives Carl Martello and Richard Soto of the New York City Police Department’s Vice Enforcement Child Recovery Unit under the supervision of Sergeant Mark Crawford and the overall supervision of Inspector James O’Neill in conjunction with the District Attorney’s Special Proceedings Bureau.
Assistant District Attorney Kateri Gasper of the District Attorney's Special Proceedings Bureau prosecuted these cases under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Anthony M. Communiello, Bureau Chief, and Oscar W. Ruiz, Deputy Bureau 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.