A 16-year-old girl who met an older man on Facebook was then raped and pimped to multiple men, prosecutors say.
Richard "KB" Trantham, 34, of Jamaica, Queens, is now facing multiple charges, including sex trafficking, rape and other crimes for allegedly forcing the girl to have sex with him and others over a period of three months in 2017.
The girl met Trantham on Facebook in September, investigators claim. They say it was then that he incited her to model tattoos for him. Prosecutors allege the girl agreed to his invitation and the 34-year-old picked her up and took her to his house, where she was sexually assaulted.
Trantham allegedly forced the girl to engage in prostitution by threatening to hurt her. Prosecutors say he also forced her to have sex with other men in exchange for money, and that he would then pocket that money.
District Attorney Richard A. Brown stressed that sex trafficking was an incessant act of brutality and degradation.
"This teenage girl was finally freed but she will have to live with this horrible experience for the rest of her life," he said.
Trantham will face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
