A Corona man was criminally charged in Queens Supreme Court on Wednesday, accused of recruiting a 17-year-old female migrant to have sex with strangers for his own profit.
Alfredo Morocho, 37, of 110th Street, was arraigned on a nine-count indictment charging him with two counts of sex trafficking of a child, promoting prostitution and other crimes for advertising her availability using semi-nude photos, and driving the victim to dates with customers.
“No child should ever be exploited,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “The underage victim in this case was preyed upon for financial gain.”
According to the indictment, in November 2023, Morocho met the 17-year-old victim at a deli in Jamaica and asked her and her friends if they wanted a job. The teenager informed Morocho that she was underage, to which the defendant responded that he could get her a job in prostitution and that he had customers. He later asked for semi-nude photos of the victim to send to customers.
Between Dec. 1 and March 5, Morocho picked the victim up at her migrant shelter and drove her to an apartment near 43-18 108th St. in Corona and to other locations to engage in sex for money. Morocho would keep all of the cash after the encounters and give the victim half at the end of the day.
In addition to profiting from her prostitution, Morocho paid for sex with the victim between November and March.
On Mar. 6, Morocho drove the victim to the Renaissance New York Flushing Hotel in Tangram, where he met with an undercover officer, from the NYPD’s Human Trafficking Squad, to negotiate the price of sex with the victim and was placed under arrest shortly afterward. Morocho was in possession of a business card advertising “in-calls” with a phone number linked to hundreds of online prostitution advertisements.
“The defendant is also accused of having sex with the victim himself,” Katz said. “I have dedicated significant resources to supporting those impacted by sex trafficking and to hold those who manipulate and take advantage of other people’s vulnerabilities. We will not relent in the fight against this dehumanizing industry.”
Morocho faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Queens Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone ordered him to return to court on May 8. According to the DA’s office, Morocho was also charged in a criminal complaint with bail jumping in the second degree after failing to appear in court following a 2018 arrest.
