Police Arrest 18 People in Huge Child Sex Trafficking Bust, DA Says 'I Have Not Seen a Case Like This'
Eighteen people, including a registered sex offender, have been arrested in a child sex abuse case that took place in the western and southern parts of New York state.
“In my 10 years as a criminal prosecutor, I have not seen a case like this,” Yates County District Attorney Todd Casella said, according to WHAM-TV.
“And if not for the hard work of the members of the New York State Police and others mentioned, that would still be true,” he said.
According to a news release from the New York State Police, one victim was abused in Yates County, which is about 70 miles southeast of Rochester, and locations in the Southern Tier portion of the state, which covers the area around Binghamton and Elmira.
Individuals charged were from Elmira, Bath, Corning, Binghamton, Olean, Prattsburgh, and Dundee, New York, as well as Holly Hill, Florida. Charges against them included sex abuse, rape, the use of a child in a sexual performance, and engaging in a criminal sexual act.
The State Police said Andrew Daugherty of Dundee, a town in Yates County, has been charged with multiple felonies that include: predatory sexual assault against a child, predatory sexual assault, sex trafficking of a child, compelling prostitution, criminal possession of a weapon 3rd degree, promoting a sexual performance by a child, and use of a child in a sexual performance.
WHAM reported that Daugherty has been on the state’s Sex Offender Registry since a 2006 conviction for the attempted sexual abuse of a 5-year-old boy in 2005.
At the time, he was sentenced to five years of probation and labeled as a level two sex offender, having a “moderate risk of repeat offense.”
“Andrew Daugherty faces the most serious charges of predatory sexual assault, predatory sexual assault against a child — both of which carry mandatory life sentences if convicted — as well as a sex trafficking of a child,” Casella said.
Casella said the victim was “safe and being well taken care of. That’s all I can comment on.”
This is Andrew Daugherty, 49, of Dundee, who allegedly abused a child over the course of seven years, profiting from their prostitution through force or intimidation.
An investigation centered around him led to the indictment of 18 people.
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— 13WHAM (@13WHAM) April 15, 2023
The Yates County District Attorney’s Office alleges the abuse began in 2017, according to WHEC-TV.
The victim of the abuse is currently 16 years old, according to WENY-TV.
The indictment against Daugherty said that during some instances when the victim was abused, her abuser was armed with a rifle. At other times, the abuse was recorded, according to WHEC.
Five of those charged have pleaded guilty, according to WHAM.
According to the Finger Lakes Times, police began their investigation of the alleged abuse in October.
The state police release said that the Bureau of Criminal Investigation in State Police Troops E, A, and C, the Holly Hill Police Department of Florida, the Yates County District Attorney’s Office, the Yates County Department of Social Services, and the New York State Police Computer Crimes Unit worked together on the investigation.
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