Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced Tuesday, Oct. 21, that Manhattan man, Akeem Lee, 36, was sentenced to 18 years in prison and five years post-release supervision for sex trafficking a child in a Bronx motel, along with additional charges of forced prostitution.

“This defendant was a brutal pimp who degraded a 14-year-old girl,” said Clark. She said Lee also beat and threatened the child, forcing her into engaging in sexual encounters with men, and led her to another pimp who in turn forced the girl to have numerous sexual encounters in a Bronx motel that served as a brothel. Clark added, “The girl bravely testified at trial.”

The district attorney added, “This conviction and sentence show our commitment to victims of sex trafficking. We will continue our tireless work to hold perpetrators accountable and support vulnerable victims.” As reported, the Office of the Bronx District Attorney works to support, and provide resources and assistance to victims and survivors of sex trafficking, treating the issue as a victim-centered crime.

Clark said Lee was sentenced on Tuesday to 18 years in prison and five years post-release supervision by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Laurence Busching. She said he is required to register as a sex offender upon release and added that a jury convicted him on July 2 of two counts of sex trafficking of a child, two counts of first-degree promoting prostitution, sex trafficking, second-degree intimidating a witness, third-degree intimidating a witness, and endangering the welfare of a child.

According to the facts presented at trial, Lee met the 14-year-old girl inside a Bronx subway station, and she began engaging in prostitution for him. Prosecutors said Lee hit and choked the girl and threatened to kill her if she went to the police. They said he also introduced her to a network of pimps who trafficked her out of the 7 Days Hotel at 2338 Bruckner Boulevard in the Unionport section of The Bronx, adding that the sex trafficking ring operated from June 2019 to November 2022.

They said the victim was forced to meet with clients 22 times daily for sex and was given ecstasy and cocaine to stay awake all night. They said she was also repeatedly beaten to comply with demands.

Prosecutors said that in January 2021, an undercover investigation began at the hotel, and Lee was among three pimps and three 7 Days hotel staffers charged in 2023, as reported at the time.

They said co-defendants Anthony Reyes, 33, pleaded to fifth-degree conspiracy, Robert Olaguibel, 48, Golam Rabbani 30, and Patrick Walker 53, hotel employees, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal facilitation, and all were sentenced to three years probation. Marvin Flint, 34, pleaded guilty fourth-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Norwood News had also reported in July 2021 that three Bronx men and a woman were charged with sex trafficking a child at the same location, along with other charges.

Those who work in the area of sex trafficking prevention say undomiciled youth are particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking pimps, including those from the LGBTQ+ community who may have been rejected by their parents and find themselves living on the street.

The case was prosecuted by Major Case Assistant District Attorney Jacquelynn Guzman of the Office of Bronx District Attorney’s human trafficking unit and Assistant District Attorney Patrick Marshall of the Office’s domestic violence bureau, under the supervision of Stephen Knoepfler, chief of the human trafficking unit, and overall supervision of Adrienne Giunta, deputy chief of the special victims division and Joseph Muroff, chief of the special victims division.

Clark thanked Assistant District Attorney Johnathan Vega, now of the homicide bureau, Jessica Walmsley, specialized trial preparation assistant with the human trafficking unit, Jason Singer, trial preparation assistant with trial bureau 60, Tiffany Pringle, crime victims advocate with the crime victims assistance bureau, and Chanel Clement, crime victims advocate with the crime victims assistance bureau.

She also thanked the Office of the Bronx District Attorney’s digital forensics lab, especially Selena Lay, laboratory director, July Moy, digital forensic examiner, Ashley Cena, intelligence analyst with the crime strategies bureau, Gabrielle Aarons, intelligence analyst, and former Assistant District Attorney Joseph Russo respectively for their work on the case.

In addition, Clark thanked NYPD Detective Denis Regimbal and NYPD Detective Mark Shackel of the NYPD human trafficking team for their work on the investigation.

To learn 10 facts about child trafficking, watch this 5-minute video by Love146, a nonprofit working to help prevent and address it.

If you are, or know, a victim of human trafficking, trained professional help is available from the Bronx District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Unit, who can be reached at (718) 838-7185.

Freedom Youth Family Justice Center also works with victims of sex trafficking in The Bronx. Click here and here to read some of our past coverage of their work, and for more information, visit https://www.freedomyouthfamilyjusticecenter.org/.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.