Man Who Ran Sex Trafficking Ring Sentenced To Over 60 Years In Prison
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A man was sentenced to 62 1/2 years in prison Monday for operating a violent sex trafficking ring out of his Upper East Side apartment.
Donnell Baines, 39, was sentenced by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Patricia Nunez, who called his acts "akin to slavery," according to published reports.
Authorities said Baines had coerced at least four women into prostitution since 2009. He used physical and psychological abuse and threatened their families.
In 2010, Baines took one of the victims along when he went to the courthouse for an unrelated hearing. The distraught woman told a court officer she was being held against her will.
The victim told authorities she was recruited through an online advertisement for models, then forced to work as a prostitute.
She had only been planning on working with Baines for six days, but he became violent and would not let her leave, prosecutors said.
Baines was convicted of rape, assault, unlawful imprisonment, sex trafficking, promoting prostitution and other charges.
He is expected to be eligible for release from prison in 50 years, according to prosecutors.
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