The Glendale man who confessed in June to forcing his teenage niece and another girl into a life of prostitution may serve the next 14 years in prison.
Eddy Florence, 34, of 70th Avenue entered a guilty plea on June 24 to sex trafficking and endangering the welfare of a child. Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone Jr. ordered Florence on Aug. 1 to serve 7 to 14 years behind bars.
According to the charges, Florence forced his 13-year-old niece into sex sales out of his home that began in about November 2017. He took photos of her and included them in advertisements on various escort websites.
Various men came to Florence’s home to have sex with his niece, authorities said, and Florence pocketed all of the proceeds for himself.
Prosecutors noted that Florence yelled violently at his niece and threatened her whenever he felt she wasn’t making enough money. The criminal complaint noted that he also allegedly provided her with cocaine and other drugs to keep her working.
An investigation found that Florence allegedly brought the girl and another young woman, 15, to a Staten Island hotel between Dec. 10 and 13, 2017, where they performed sexual acts with customers who visited.
Members of the NYPD Narcotics Borough Queens brought the prostitution business to a halt on Dec. 13, 2017, while executing a court-authorized search of Florence’s residence as part of an investigation.
During the search, police recovered small plastic bags of heroin, cocaine and marijuana, as well as a credit card embossing machine typically used to create forged credit cards. They also recovered Florence’s cellphone, which is registered to a phone number used in the online prostitution ads.
“Sex trafficking is an incessant act of brutality and degradation that could scar its victims for life,” acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan said on Aug. 1. “I hope that these two victims will be able to overcome this ordeal and move forward in their lives. The defendant is now going to prison.”
