Photo Courtesy of Google
Gilbert had the girl work out of the Greater Allen Cathedral Senior Residence in Jamaica.
By Forum Staff
A 26-year-old Queens man has pleaded guilty to attempted sex trafficking for forcing a teenage girl into prostitution between December 2016 and March 2017.
Joseph Gilbert, of St. Albans, beat and threatened the youngster into having sex dates with strangers out of a Queens senior citizen residence.
“In pleading guilty, the defendant has nowadmitted to coercing a teen girl – just sixteen years old – into prostitution. The youngster suffered greatly, but managed to escape the clutch’s of the defendant. She will, however, have to live with the memory of this experience for the rest of her life,” District Attorney Brown said.
Gilbertplead guilty to one count of attempted sex trafficking before Queens Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone Jr., who indicated that he will sentence Gilbert to four to eight years in prison on January 25, 2019.
In addition to the physical abuse, Gilbert made the youngster turn over all the money she made to him. He had the girl work out of a Queens senior citizen residence, and when she expressed to the defendant that she no longer wanted to engage in prostitution, Gilbert violently beat her with a closed fist and threatened her.
In March 2017, the victim ran away from the defendant and was able tell the police where the defendant operated – inside a Jamaica, Queens senior residence -where he was arrested. The girl had been living with the defendant and an older drug-addicted resident of the facility.
