By Forum Staff
A Bronx man has been sentenced to 6-12 years in prison, for forcing his 18-year-old victim into performing sex acts with strangers for money. He was convicted last month of second-degree promotion of prostitution following a jury trial presided over by Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter
Richard Cabassa, 45, of Davidson Avenue in the Bronx, forced the victim to engage in sexual intercourse and oral sex with strangers at a motel on South Conduit Avenue in Queens. The young victim was required to make no less than $600 per day and to turn over all cash to the defendant. On days she did not meet his financial requirements, Cabassa savagely beat her.
“A jury, after weighing all the evidence, convicted the defendant of committing this heinous act. The defendant through intimidation and violence, forced an 18-year-old teenager into prostitution. He treated this young woman as chattel – a commodity to be sold to others for cash – and then pocketed the money she earned for himself. Prostitution is a degrading and demeaning crime that will not be tolerated in Queens. The defendant will now be incarcerated for his actions,” said DA Brown.
The acts took place for a little over a year, starting in December of 2015 and gong through February of last year. On February 13, 2016, according to trial records, the young woman sparked Cabassa’s temper because she only made $200. As he stood outside the hotel, he grabbed the teenager by her hair, dragged her down the street and repeatedly kicked her in the torso. The beating finally ended when hotel employees who witnessed the beating intervened.
But once again inside a room Cabassa told the girl, “No one is around to save you now” and struck her with his fist repeatedly in the stomach and bashed her in the head with a lamp and mirror.
