Photo Courtesy of Google
The victims were rescued from the Flushing Hotel.
By Forum Staff
Two Queens residents have been indicted for pimping the same two teenage girls—a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old—between November 2021 and February 2022, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday.
Mario Serrano, 23, of Fresh Meadows, and Shaquille Lopez, 23, of Corona, were arraigned last Wednesday on an indictment charging them with sex trafficking of a child, promoting prostitution in the first, second and third degree, and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to the charges, Serrano and Lopez drove the victims to various hotels, rented rooms at these establishments, and then left the underage girls there to engage in sex for money with customers. The older teen collected the cash and allegedly gave the proceeds to Serrano and Lopez.
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Queens DA Katz said that Serrano and Lopez “are now charged with very serious crimes…”
DA Katz said that Lopez, who was an ex-boyfriend of the 16-year-old victim, on Feb. 2, drove the girls to the Flushing Hotel and allegedly paid for a room and left the two there to have sex in exchange for money with male customers.
The following day, an undercover cop responded to one of the many online advertisements for the two teens. He went to the hotel and made a verbal agreement with the 13-year-old for sex in exchange for money. Other officers then moved in and rescued both girls from the Flushing Hotel room.
“The victims in this case were just 13 and 16 years old when these two defendants allegedly offered the girls for sex in online advertisements and then lined their own pockets with the cash the two teens were paid to have sex,” Katz said. “Both men are now charged with very serious crimes for their alleged actions.”
If convicted, Serrano and Lopez face up to 25 years in prison.
