Three Queens residents, two men and a woman, were indicted Friday on charges they forced a 14-year-old female runaway to work for them as a prostitute and would beat her repeatedly if she said she wanted to leave, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Lindsay Archibald, 31, of Woodside; Quanesha Hunte, 23, of Jamaica; and Stephen Garrison, 25, also of Jamaica, were arrested Feb. 3 and arraigned last Friday before Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter on a 28-count indictment charging them with kidnapping, rape, compelling and promoting prostitution, sex trafficking, assault, and more.
“Two of the defendants are accused of enslaving a young teenager and, together with the third defendant, forcing her to work as a prostitute and to turn over all the money she earned to them through the threat of physical violence,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, for the victim, she discovered all too late that running away from home does not solve any problems and that few activities are as brutal and dehumanizing as prostitution.”
According to the charges, the teen victim ran away from home in September 2013 and was later introduced to the three defendants. Archibald then allegedly told her that she had to choose which pimp she was going to work for as a prostitute. When the girl refused to make a decision, the three individuals allegedly threatened her and claimed she owed them a large sum of money and would have to pay them back by being a prostitute – which she allegedly did inside of 145-54 107th Ave.
Between Nov. 1, 2013 and Feb. 3, 2014, the victim was allegedly kept inside the 107th Avenue location against her will by Archibald and Hunte and forced to have sex with numerous men in exchange for cash. On several occasions, when she asked to stop the prostitution and leave, Hunte allegedly beat and kicked her in the head, telling her, “You’ are not going anywhere.” Archibald allegedly repeatedly slapped her and punched her if she missed a prostitution date or did not make enough money and threatened to kill her if she left and stopped making money for him.
On Feb. 3, Archibald and Hunte allegedly moved the victim out of the 107th Avenue location to Hunte’s home on 177th Street. On that day, it is alleged the victim called her grandmother and 911 for help – after which the police arrived and the teen was able to finally leave the horror show.
