Aug. 2, 2019 By Allie Griffin
A Ridgewood man has been sentenced up to 14 years in prison for sex trafficking a 13-year-old girl after pleading guilty to the charge.
Eddy Florence, 34, forced his victim to have sex with strangers for money over a period of several weeks and pocketed the cash for himself in late 2017. He posted prostitution advertisements for the young girl and another 15-year-old victim to various escort websites, including Backpage.com.
Florence also pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of the 15-year-old runaway. Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone Jr. sentenced Florence to 7 to 14 years in prison.
The abuse didn’t stop at prostitution however. When the younger victim didn’t make enough money, Florence would yell violently and threaten the victim, according to the DA’s office.
“Sex trafficking is an incessant act of brutality and degradation that could scar its victims for life. I hope that these two victims will be able to overcome this ordeal and move forward in their lives,” Queens District Attorney John Ryan said. “The defendant is now going to prison.”
