By Ivan Pereira
A former youth counselor from Jamaica was sentenced last Thursday to spend up to a decade in prison for pimping out a teenage girl, the Queens district attorney said.
Terrell “Fresh” Mitchell, 28, of 131-22 134th St., was found guilty in April of promoting prostitution and endangering the welfare of a child charges, according to DA Richard Brown. Mitchell, who worked as a counselor for a nonprofit group in the area, lured a 15-year-old Queens girl from her home and forced her to be his prostitute for two years, Brown said.
“By the swiftness of the jury’s condemnation and the significant prison sentence imposed by the court, society sends a message to this defendant and others that prostitution is not a victimless crime but a terrifying and despicable offense against society — and the young women that it enslaves one day at a time,” he said in a statement.
Around 5 a.m. March 5, 2008, Mitchell drove up to the girl’s residence and helped her run away from her guardians, the DA said. He then told her he would be her driver and he would take care of her, according to Brown.
The defendant then fed the girl and gave her marijuana to smoke, Brown said. Later that afternoon, Mitchell drove her to 107th Street and Liberty Avenue and ordered her to perform oral sex for profit that he would collect, according to the DA.
Early in the morning exactly two years later, an undercover police officer spotted the victim and a 16-year-old girl inside a Toyota Corolla with Mitchell, Brown said. The girls approached the officer and offered oral sex for cash and when a deal was made, the older victim called Mitchell and asked for extra cash, according to the DA.
An officer noticed that the 15-year-old had Mitchell’s phone number on her cell phone listed as “Daddy,” the DA said.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter, who presided over the weeklong jury trial, ordered Mitchell to be behind bars for a 3-1/2-to-10-1/2-year term, Brown said.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
