A Long Island man already accused of rape in a high-profile missing-teen case is now facing sex-trafficking charges for allegedly pimping out a woman for drugs and savagely beating her when she protested.
Daniel Soto, 37, of Bay Shore — allegedly one of a slew of men who raped 14-year-old Emmarae Gervasi after she went missing in December — is now accused of forcing a young woman into prostitution with drugs and violence, Suffolk County prosecutors said.
Soto allegedly made the woman sleep with addicts for money, using his fists or the threat of fentanyl withdrawal to keep her under his control.
“Our office is committed to securing justice for victims of human-trafficking and ensuring that anyone exploiting others is held accountable,” Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said in announcing the charges against Soto.
The twisted raps were unsealed Monday in Suffolk Supreme Court, where Soto pleaded not guilty to three counts of sex trafficking and two counts of promoting prostitution.
A judge set his bail at $500,000 cash or $3 million bond.
He remains locked up in Suffolk County Jail, where he’s been since his February arrest in Emmarae’s case, which prosecutors called one of the most disturbing to hit Long Island in years.
Prosecutors have said Emmarae was drugged, sexually and physically abused and trafficked in a horrifying 25-day stretch by multiple adults while others filmed the sick acts. Her father finally found her and rescued her from a docked boat in January.
Soto is one of 11 defendants charged in an 83-count indictment and accused of raping the teen. Prosecutors said Soto was invited to the boat by co-defendant Elizabeth Hunter, 34.
Hunter allegedly spent a week on the boat where the teen was found and is alleged to have taken nude and sexually explicit photographs of the teen that she used to advertise the child for sex in exchange for drugs and money.
Soto’s lawyer, Katherine Fernandez, argued the new charges are built on old allegations that only surfaced after investigators got ahold of her client’s phone — which she claims was seized during an “unlawful arrest.”
She said Soto “adamantly denies” the fresh trafficking charges just as he does the earlier ones tied to the teen.
“It’s extremely convenient that prosecutors can’t find anything new to bolster the boat case — where he’s never been charged with sex trafficking — yet suddenly file a new indictment right after he demands a speedy trial,” Fernandez said.
“We plan to fight this aggressively.”
Soto is due back in court for both cases Aug. 13, and is facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted of sex trafficking.
