QUEENS, N.Y. — Two men have been indicted on sex trafficking and prostitution charges after a woman was allegedly forced to engage in sex acts at an East Flushing brothel, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Wednesday.
Key Points
- Xu Cheng Sun and Jingchao Zhang indicted for trafficking and promoting prostitution
- Victim allegedly had possessions taken and was beaten, forced into sex work
- Undercover operation led to discovery of illegal brothel and weapons
Victim trafficked from China to NYC
Xu Cheng Sun, 30, and Jingchao Zhang, 29, both of Flushing, were charged in a grand jury indictment with two counts of sex trafficking and promoting prostitution in the second and third degrees. According to prosecutors, the victim, a 43-year-old woman from China, was brought to New York last fall, stripped of her valuables, and repeatedly assaulted when she refused to comply.
District Attorney Katz said, “These defendants are charged with treating a woman as if she were property and forcing her to engage in prostitution.”
Authorities say the woman arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in November and was picked up by a man in a black car along with other women. She was taken to a home, locked in a room, and had her jewelry and $2,500 cash taken. When she resisted giving up more, she and others were physically abused.
Operation uncovered via undercover sting
On January 31, an undercover officer responded to an online prostitution ad and was directed to a house on 162nd Street in East Flushing. Zhang allegedly greeted him and brought him to the second floor, where Sun showed him approximately 10 women and quoted a price of $120 for sex. After the officer was led to a bedroom and offered sex for cash, law enforcement entered the building. Sun attempted to flee by jumping out a window.
Police discovered a loaded 9mm pistol under a towel in the bedroom. Zhang was arrested on-site. Sun was arrested on April 8 after a second undercover sting at the same location, where he and 46-year-old Peilong Tang allegedly repeated the same solicitation process.
Court proceedings and additional charges
Sun was arraigned on April 10 and remanded. He is due back in court on May 1 and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Zhang, already in custody on prior charges, is also expected to be arraigned on May 1.
Sun and Tang face additional counts of promoting prostitution. They are due in court in June and face potential sentences of up to seven years.
Prosecutors say the victim was taken to several locations across Brooklyn and Queens, beaten when she refused to comply, and at one point was nearly sold for $8,000. Her passport was later confiscated by another woman, leaving her unable to flee.