Defendant Forced 14-Year-Old Girl Into Prostitution; Advertised Victim On Internet
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that a Bronx man has been
sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for the sex trafficking of a 14-year-old girl whom he forced
into prostitution by assaulting her.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant sexually advertised the teenage girl on the
website Backpage and made money by having the victim engage in prostitution. Today’s sentence
will keep a predator of children off the streets.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Santos Rodriguez, 26, of 612 East 180 Street,
was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison today by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Denis Boyle.
The defendant will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release. The defendant pleaded
guilty to Sex Trafficking on November 7, 2018.
According to the investigation, on or about April 28, 2017 and June 6, 2017 at different
times and at several locations in the Bronx, the defendant intentionally advanced and profited from
the prostitution of a teenage girl. Rodriguez used force and intimidation against the victim to instill
fear and to induce her to engage in prostitution, including slapping and strangling her. Rodriguez
also engaged in sexual acts with the victim.
District Attorney Clark thanked Assistant District Attorney Jason Birriel of the Criminal
Enterprise Bureau for his assistance in the case. District Attorney Clark also thanked Detective John
Zerafa of the NYPD/FBI Human Trafficking Task Force.
