By Philip Newman
Two Queens men have been convicted of kidnapping, raping and pimping of a 14-year-old runaway girl, the Queens district attorney said.
DA Richard Brown announced that Differson Legrand, 39, of 99th Avenue in Queens Village and Chilo Petit, 36, of 170th Street in St. Albans were convicted Aug. 30 of second-degree kidnapping and promoting prostituting after a two-week trial before Queens Supreme Court Justice Stephanie Zaro, who set sentencing for Sept.13.
Each defendant faces up to 25 years in prison.
According to trial testimony, the victim ran away from home and became involved in a sexual relationship with Petit in the fall of 2014 through June 2015. During this time, Petit took the victim to Legrand’s residence, locked her in a room and continued to have sex with her before having her engage in prostitution, prosecutors said.
When the victim refused to “work,” Legrand grabbed her by the neck, punched her in the face and told her she had no choice but to work and make money for him. She escaped and eventually contacted her mother.
