A Queens Village man has pleaded guilty to forcing a 15-year-old girl to be his sex slave, the district attorney’s office said.
Christopher Whitfield, 25, raped the teen twice and made her have sex with strangers for cash he pocketed, authorities said. The girl had run away from home when Whitfield found her last March.
“His guilty plea not only ensures that he is held accountable for his actions and allows the troubled young victim in the case to move on with her life,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown, “but sends a clear message that crimes such as these will not be tolerated in Queens County.”
Many men answered Whitfield’s prostitution ads online between March 2012 and April 2012, the district attorney said. The teen met them on a daily basis at hotels and other locations in Queens.
Whitfield beat and burned her several times on her breast, wrist and leg with cigarettes and a heated razor when she asked to stop, Brown said.
She eventually escaped when she was left alone.
Whitfield was arrested last April. He pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking and expects to be sentenced to three to nine years in prison, authorities said.
Brown said his office has convicted 12 people on sex trafficking charges so far.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
- St. Albans couple pleads guilty to sex trafficking
- Op Ed: Human trafficking is not victimless
- New campaign to fight sex trafficking in Queens
