A South Ozone Park man pleaded guilty on Friday, March 23 to sex trafficking a female runaway whom he forced to perform sexual acts at several places in Queens.
Michael Summerville, who is 33 and lives on 128th Street in South Ozone Park, pleaded guilty to the sex trafficking of an underage girl and faces sentencing on April 17. According to the press release sent out by Queens District Attorney Richard Brown’s office, Acting Supreme Court Justice James Griffin, whom Summerville made the guilty plea to, indicated that he would sentence him anywhere from five to 10 years in prison.
Brown said that, according to the charges, Summerville became friendly with the then 14-year-old girl in January 2010 after she ran away from home. After he engaged in sexual activity with her, Summerville pimped her out to other people before she returned home.
Also according to the charges, after she ran away from home again in October 2010, the young girl, then aged 15, returned to Summerville’s Brooklyn home to get a computer and cell phone that he took. He then took her to his home in South Ozone Park, where she stayed until approximately Oct. 31, 2010, according to the charges. During that time, Summerville engaged in sexual activities with her and, along with other girls, had her engage in prostitution. He also forced her to give him all the monetary earnings from the other men.
Around that Oct. 31 date, Summerville gave the girl to another pimp, who also had sex with her and forced her to work as a prostitute until she escaped.
According to the press release, Summerville was arrested in December 2010 following an investigation by the NYPD’s Vice Enforcement Division based on information provided by the victim. On Dec. 1, 2010, four undercover officers went to Summerville’s house and met four females who offered to have sex with them for money. After they gave one of the girls $360, they arrested Summerville after they observed him in the back room of the house.
Brown noted that this is the fifth sex trafficking conviction obtained by his office since policies regarding stricter penalties against human trafficking and providing assistance to victims were enacted in November 2007. In the other four cases, the people convicted are serving sentences that range from two to six years to 25 years to life in prison.
By Luis Gronda
