Prosecutors allege six defendants kidnapped a 15-year-old and forced her into sexual slavery in this vacant house in Ozone Park.
Investigators say a 15-year-old girl was repeatedly raped and forced into prostitution in February as part of an operation run out of an illegally occupied Ozone Park house.
On Feb. 17, police entered the house at 83-14 101 Ave. and arrested members of a group that allegedly kidnapped the Long Island girl and set up shop in an empty house.
Prosecutors alleged the group physically prevented the girl from leaving, gang-raped her and forced her into sexual acts with clients under the threat of violence.
The Queens District Attorney identified Gary Council, a 22-year-old Ozone Park man, as the lead defendant. He is one of six being charged.
“This is a horrific case in which the victim, a young girl, is alleged to have survived a nightmarish ordeal that included being drugged, gang raped and forced to work as a prostitute. She is fortunate to have escaped,” Richard Brown, the Queens D.A., said in a statement.
Investigators allege that the victim was picked up on Feb. 6 near Jerome Street in Brooklyn. They were taken to the house on 101 Avenue and introduced to Council.
According to court documents, the victim told detectives that when she tried to leave the house, Council grabbed her by the arm and said, “You’re not going anywhere. You are going to stay here and make my money.”
Andrea Furlonge, a 22-year-old woman from Ozone Park, allegedly took nude and semi-nude photos of the 15-year-old. The victim told police that Furlonge posted them online along with photos of herself in advertisements soliciting prostitution services.
According to court documents, the victim said she was forced over the next five days to have sex with numerous
men, take their money and hand it over to Council.
During that time, Furlonge warned the victim not to cry or try to leave at risk of angering Council, investigators said.
According to a deposition, the victim told the NYPD Vice Squad that at one point on Feb. 8, she was forced to take two ecstasy pills and raped by five of the defendants and another man.
Brown said the victim escaped the ordeal on Feb. 12 when Council sent her across the street to the store. She fled instead.
The house where this all allegedly took place had been vacant until the defendants moved in without permission.
The owner, Tsung Chen, told police that when he visited the property on Jan. 21 he noticed the locks had been broken and replaced.
He installed new locks, but when he came back again on Feb. 5, they had once again been broken and replaced.
According to court documents, he found Furlonge there during one visit and confronted her. When he told the defendants to leave, they presented him with a forged lease agreement between them and someone named Raymond Kelly, Chen told investigators.
When Chen said he was the sole owner of the property and had never heard of Raymond Kelly, Council allegedly tried to extort Chen, saying they would only leave if he paid them $6,000.
Carmella D’Agostino lives across the street from the house and said the incident has left a lasting impression on the neighborhood.
“It’s terrible. I could never look at that building knowing what took place in there,” she said. “It’s a house of horrors.”
Council faces 25 years to life in prison on his charges, which include rape, kidnapping, compelling prostitution, sexual trafficking and endangering the welfare of a child.
His alleged co-conspirators are 23-year-old Junior Goldring of Brooklyn, 21-year-old Omari Millington of Brooklyn, 22-year-old Renardo Williams of Brooklyn and 24-year-old Roy McMillan of Brooklyn.
McMillan faces up to 15 years in prison on various charges including endangering the welfare of a child. The other defendants could receive up to 25 years for their charges.
By Jeremiah Dobruck
Luis Gronda contributed to this report.
j.dobruck@theforumnewsgroup.com
