By Ivan Pereira
A South Ozone Park man was charged last week with pimping a runaway teen and could face serious jail time if convicted, the Queens district attorney said.
Michael Summerville, 32, of 128th Street, was indicted Jan. 5 on 27 criminal counts, including kidnapping, sex trafficking, promoting prostitution and rape, DA Richard Brown said.
Summerville is accused of befriending a 14-year-old girl from Brooklyn who ran away from her home, engaging her and other females in prostitution on a daily basis and reaping the money from their operations, according to Brown.
“The defendant’s alleged behavior is despicable and he must be prosecuted for his actions to the fullest extent of the law,” the DA said in a statement.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho ordered the suspect to be held on $250,000 bail and required him to return to court March 2, Brown said.
Immediately after the unidentified teen befriended Summerville in January 2010, she began a sexual relationship with him and started working as a prostitute, the DA said. She ran away from him in October, but returned to retrieve a phone and computer that he stole and lived at his Queens residence for the next month, according to Brown.
Summerville continued to pimp the teen out and take her earnings until he gave her to another pimp Oct. 31, Brown said.
The girl was able to escape and went to the police, who began investigating the Summerville, according to the DA.
Undercover officers went to Summerville’s home Dec. 1 and were met by four females who offered sex in exchange for cash, the DA said. The officers paid $360 in pre-recorded buy money and when they went inside to arrest Summerville, they allegedly found the money in his pockets, according to Brown.
If convicted of his charges, Summerville faces up to 25 years in prison, the DA said.
The DA noted that new state laws enacted in 2007 have established harsher penalties for convicted pimps, including a mandatory registration with the New York sex offender list. Brown’s office also provides counseling and social servicing assistance to victims of sex trafficking.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
