Photo Courtesy of Google
One of the hotels the defendants’ used for their alleged prostitution business was the La Quinta Inn on Queens Boulevard in LIC.
By Forum Staff
Two men have been indicted twice by a borough grand jury for allegedly coercing a 15-year-old girl to trade sex for cash for three days in February in two Queens hotels; and for allegedly trafficking two other teens—13 and 14—posting nude images of the victims online and stating that they were “for sale,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz recently announced.
Lawrence Winslow and Alan Velvett, both 27, were arraigned earlier this year on a 28-count indictment charging them with kidnapping in the first and second degree, sex trafficking of a child, sex trafficking, compelling prostitution, rape in the first and third degree and other crimes. The defendants were ordered to return to court on June 9.
If convicted, Winslow and Velvett each face up to life in prison.
Both Winslow and Velvett were also arraigned last week on a 13-count indictment charging them with sex trafficking of a child, sex trafficking, promoting prostitution in the first, second and third degree, endangering the welfare of a child, attempted sex trafficking of a child and attempted promoting prostitution in the first and second degree.
If convicted on these charges, the defendants face up to 25 years in prison.
According to first indictment, in February, the 15-year-old victim met Winslow and Velvett at the La Quinta Inn on Queens Boulevard in Long Island City where she was told she would engage in sex for cash. Winslow paid for two rooms at the hotel and took semi-nude photos of the child and posted online advertisements of the child. Both Velvett’s and Winslow’s cell phone numbers were used with the ads.
DA Katz said, before the victim had sex with strangers, she was first allegedly forced to have sex with Winslow twice. That was followed by a string of strangers who had intercourse with the girl and every dollar was pocketed by the defendants.
After February 17, as outlined in the charges, Velvett relocated the victim to the JFK Inn in South Ozone Park. At this new spot, Lawrence joined his co-defendant and the victim was again forced to have sex with strangers for cash. Velvett also coerced the girl to have sexual intercourse with him.
The teenager was rescued when an undercover police officer responded to the online ad and met with the girl in person at one of the hotel rooms. Velvett was arrested after arriving in the room. Winslow was arrested after being found in the second hotel room across the hall. At the time, Winslow had $872 in cash in his wallet.
In the second case, the two teens met Winslow at the La Quinta Inn where Winslow allegedly took nude photos of the youngsters. When Winslow posted the images online, he stated aloud that the girls were “for sale.” One of the teenagers had sex with a stranger and the defendants again kept every dollar from the exchange.
“This case is the latest example of why I established the Human Trafficking Bureau when I became DA,” Katz said. “These three teenage victims were allegedly forced to trade sex for cash with strangers and the 14-year-old was coerced into having intercourse with both defendants.”
