A 15-year-old Long Island girl who ran away from home was forced to work as a prostitute under the threat of violence for a week last month in a Queens house, where she was drugged and gang raped by four men before she escaped, New York City prosecutors said Thursday.
A 22-year-old man who is the accused ringleader, a woman who posted the victim’s nude photos in Internet prostitution ads and four others have been indicted on an array of charges in connection with the case. Authorities said it all occurred inside an Ozone Park home that some of the suspects were squatting in.
“This is a horrific case in which the victim, a young girl, is alleged to have survived a nightmarish ordeal that included being drugged, gang raped and forced to work as a prostitute,” Queens County District Attorney Richard Brown said. “She is fortunate to have escaped.”
The alleged ringleader, Gary Council, was charged with kidnapping. He and the lone woman among those arrested, 21-year-old Andrea Furlonge of Ozone Park, were charged with compelling prostitution, sex trafficking and promoting prostitution.
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Junior Goldring, 23, Omari Millington, 21, and 22-year-old Renardo Williams, all of Brooklyn, were each charged with rape and criminal sexual act along with Council. Roy McMillan, 24, of Brooklyn, was charged with criminally using drug paraphernalia. All six were also charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Prosecutors said Goldring picked up the victim, who was with a friend in Brooklyn on Feb. 6, and took her to the house, where she met Council and McMillan. But when she tried to leave, Council allegedly grabbed her and forced her back inside.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Council allegedly told the victim, according to prosecutors. “You are going to stay here and make my money.”
Council allegedly told Furlonge that the victim was a “new girl” and ordered Furlonge to take the victim and “do what she had to do,” authorities said. Furlonge then posted nude pictures of the victim and herself in backpage.com prostitution ads, prosecutors said.
The victim was forced to have sex with men in exchange for money, which was collected by Furlonge and given to Council, prosecutors said. Furlonge allegedly told the victim to obey Council or he would get violent and told her not to cry or he would get angry.
Millington and Council allegedly forced the victim to take two ecstasy pills on Feb. 8, tied her up, then raped and sodomized her along with Goldring and Williams, prosecutors said.
On Feb. 12, Council told the victim to get him something from the store across the street, when the victim ran away and did not return, prosecutors said.
Council, Furlonge and McMillan had broke into the house and were living there since as early as January, authorities said. They allegedly showed the owner fake lease documents when he confronted them.
When the owner returned Feb. 10 and ordered them to leave, Council and McMillan said they would only do so if he gave them $6,000 each, prosecutors said. The suspects then allegedly threatened the owner.
Council, Furlonge and McMillan were additionally charged with burglary and attempted grand larceny in connection with those allegations.
The six suspects will be arraigned Thursday in Queens County court. Each faces up to 25 years in prison except McMillan, who faces up to 15 years.
