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Corona man, busted in undercover sting, pleads guilty to sex trafficking a migrant teenager: DA

A Corona man admitted he brokered sexual encounters between clients and a young migrant girl he would deliver to different locations across Queens pocketing cash from her acts of prostitution. Via Getty Images

Oct. 7, 2024 By Bill Parry

A Corona man pleaded guilty Thursday on Queens Supreme Court to sex trafficking charges for targeting and exploiting a migrant teenager into prostitution and paying for sex.

Alfredo Morocho, 38, of 110th Street in Corona, admitted he brokered sex encounters between customers and the young girl at locations around Queens for months and pocketed the cash from the encounters.

According to the charges and the indictment, Morocho met the 17-year-old victim and her friends at a deli in Jamaica last November. After informing Morocho of her age, he told her he could get her prostitution customers. Morocho later asked for semi-nude photos of the victim to send to potential customers.

Between Dec. 1 and March 5, 2023, 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 around the borough to engage in sex for money. For the sexual encounters, customers gave Morocho cash, which he controlled, and gave the victim only half of the proceeds at the end of the day.

In addition to profiting from her prostitution, Morocho paid for sex with the victim between November 2023 and March 2024.

On March 6, Morocho arrived with the victim at the Renaissance New York Fliushing Hotel at Tangram. Upon arriving, Morocho 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. When he was taken into custody, Morocho was in possession of a business card advertising “in-calls” with a phone number linked to hundreds of online prostitution advertisements.

“This defendant brazenly sex trafficked an underage child around Queens County and made money off her degrading sexual encounters,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “He exploited a child and will now serve eight years in prison.”

Morocho pleaded guilty before Queens Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone to two counts of sex trafficking of a child, five counts of promoting prostitution, and two counts of patronizing a person in prostitution. Morocho was also charged in a criminal complaint with bail jumping after failing to appear in court after an arrest in 2018. Morocho is expected to receive a sentence of eight years in prison on Oct. 24. The DA’s Office recommended a sentence of twelve years in prison.

“My office is dedicated to eradicating sex trafficking in our communities,” Katz said. “And we stand with the survivors as we dismantle this harmful industry.”

email the author: news@queenspost.com
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