(Stock Unsplash)
Oct. 7, 2021 By Allie Griffin
A Long Island City man was indicted for sex trafficking and a slew of other charges Tuesday for allegedly forcing a woman into prostitution and abusing her.
Walter Pinckney, 25, allegedly drugged, beat and forced a 24-year-old woman to have sex with men for money between May 11 and June 6. He also bound her with an electrical cord and held her hostage without adequate food and water, according to the charges.
Pinckney took sexually suggestive photos of the woman, whom he met through mutual friends, and posted the photos in ads offering paid sex on megapersonals.com and skipthegames.com, according to the investigation.
When the woman objected to the ads and prostitution, he allegedly struck her, the charges state. He then set up numerous sex-for-money dates for her throughout the city, including at an East New York hotel.
Pinckney drugged the victim with Adderall and Ecstasy so that she would stay awake for more hours to have sex with more clients. There were times over the course of the two months in which she was awake for three days straight, the charges state.
Pinckney got increasingly violent towards the woman as time went on. In one instance where she again said she didn’t want to engage in prostitution, he allegedly choked her with both hands around her neck, according to the complaint.
On another occasion, Pickney beat the victim after she left a client and headed to his home on her own instead of waiting to be picked up. He allegedly punched her in the face, chest and abdomen — causing bruising and broken ribs. An unidentified woman tasered the victim, the charges state.
Pickney’s abuse of the victim escalated to a breaking point when he held her hostage inside a house in East Flatbush in early June. He bound her wrists and ankles with electrical cord and locked her in a single room without adequate food or water.
The victim, however, was able to loosen the cords and escape the house on June 6. She ran down the street to a local corner store where she called 911, the complaint states.
“This young woman allegedly suffered horrific abuse at the hands of this defendant,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “Thankfully, she was able to escape and get help.”
Pickney was arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court Tuesday on a nine-count indictment charging him with sex trafficking; second-, third- and fourth-degree promoting prostitution; second- and third-degree assault; criminal obstruction of breathing and unlawful imprisonment.
He faces up to 25 years in prison on the top charge and would be required to register as a sex offender if convicted.
He was held on bail of $500,000 bond or $100,000 cash and is set to return to court on Nov. 16.
“We must continue to do all we can to raise awareness of human trafficking and to prosecute those who engage in this appalling crime,” Gonzales said.
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