KEW GARDENS — A St. Albans man became the first pimp to be sentenced under New York state’s new sex trafficking laws Tuesday, the Queens district attorney said.
David Brown, 32, of 188-52 120th Road, was ordered to spend 25 years to life in prison by Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise for his January convictions on several charges including kidnapping, sex trafficking and promoting prostitution, DA Richard Brown said.
David Brown purchased a 19-year-old girl for $2,000 in August 2008 and forced her into prostitution for three weeks, the DA said. After he was arrested, the pimp had an accomplice pay the girl not to testify against him in court, but she was arrested for loitering on a street for prostitution and he was re-arrested and charged.
“He preyed upon a troubled young woman and today’s lengthy sentence holds him accountable for his actions,” Richard Brown said in a statement.
David Brown had the girl go on several “dates” where she would perform sexual acts for money that went to the pimp, according to the DA. She escaped from him on Aug. 23 and alerted a friend, who called police, DA Brown said.
Although he was charged with kidnapping and using the girl, David Brown was released by the authorities when the victim ran away. In reality, Devon Gordon, 27, of Long Island, paid the girl not to testify and hid her on the pimp’s orders.
In September, she was caught by police soliciting sex on a street corner in southeast Queens and David Brown was again taken into custody. Gordon pleaded guilty to tampering with a witness and sentenced on a conditional discharge, the DA said.