BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Eight individuals have been indicted on charges related to a multi-state sex trafficking operation that allegedly involved the trafficking of four minors and one adult woman between Brooklyn and North Carolina, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced.
The defendants—six men and two women—are variously charged in a 19-count superseding indictment and a separate five-count indictment with conspiracy, sex trafficking, sex trafficking of a child, promoting prostitution, and related offenses. Five of the accused were initially charged earlier this year, and a continuing investigation revealed the alleged involvement of three additional defendants and two more minor victims.
“This case is the result of a continuing investigation into an allegedly widespread, multi-state sex trafficking ring,” said District Attorney Gonzalez. “Five defendants were initially charged earlier this year, yet further investigation revealed the alleged involvement of three additional defendants and two additional minor victims.”
The newly named defendants include Mylord Williams, 26, of the Bronx; Terrel Chery, 27, of Nassau County; and Kinard Oliver, 27, of Brooklyn, who are all charged with sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in 2022. These three, along with Layquan Highsmith, 30; Ronasia Robinson, 31; Tyshawn Crawford, 29; Richard Baker, 45; and Eyecess Chapman, 24, are charged in the superseding indictment for various acts tied to promoting prostitution and trafficking minors.
Victims trafficked between Brooklyn and North Carolina
Williams and Chery were remanded without bail following their arraignments, while Oliver was held on $100,000 bail or a $1 million bond. All three are scheduled to return to court on August 13, 2025.
According to investigators, in July 2022, Williams allegedly rented two rooms in East New York where he and Chery sex trafficked a 17-year-old, using online ads and collecting all proceeds from her forced prostitution until October 2022.
A separate case opened in November 2024 when a 19-year-old woman called 911 from Wilmington, North Carolina, claiming she was being forced to engage in prostitution in both Brooklyn and North Carolina. She identified five of the defendants as her traffickers.
Further investigation revealed the trafficking of a 15-year-old victim and an ongoing conspiracy by Williams, Chery, Oliver, Highsmith, Crawford, and Robinson to traffic multiple minors between 2024 and 2025.
In one incident, Williams and Oliver allegedly trafficked a 17-year-old girl in Brooklyn as early as February 2024. She was recovered by NYPD officers in August after texting a friend for help. In another, Chery, Oliver, and Robinson allegedly transported a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old to North Carolina for prostitution in October 2024.
Defendants allegedly rotated victims between locations
Prosecutors allege that Chery later gave the 15-year-old girl to Highsmith after expressing dissatisfaction with her earnings. Highsmith, along with Robinson and Crawford, then allegedly returned to North Carolina with the victim, two other minors, the 19-year-old woman, and other young adult females, where they continued to engage in prostitution.
Authorities say the trafficking network operated by cycling victims between Brooklyn and multiple cities in North Carolina, with proceeds directed back to the accused traffickers.
The defendants face charges that include sex trafficking of a child, promoting prostitution in the first degree, and conspiracy in the fourth degree, among others.
