This article appeared in the New York Post
Hundreds of women may have fallen prey to an alleged New York sex trafficker — who lured some victims through bogus online ads for waitressing gigs — in a sprawling operation that dates back a decade, federal investigators said Tuesday.
The accused madam, Ysenni Gomez, allegedly targeted newly arrived Spanish-speaking immigrants to ensnare in forced prostitution in Westchester County and the Bronx.
Gomez, 39, was charged in the Southern District of New York earlier this month with sex trafficking by means of force and a related interstate commerce crime in connection to one alleged victim, an undocumented Venezuelan woman, according to a criminal complaint against her.
Authorities are seeking other potential victims — with the FBI saying Tuesday that “hundreds” of women of unknown ages may have been trafficked by the alleged ringleader.
“We believe there are likely many more victims,” FBI Supervisory Special Agent Brendan Kelley told The Post, adding, “This operation could have been going on for as many as 10 years.”
Investigators say Gomez allegedly advertised her flesh trade in online ads, possibly using the business name “Chicas Express.”
Kelley noted that some 1,600 ads promoting prostitution on websites like Facebook, Bedpage.com and MegaPersonals.com are potentially linked to Gomez. The FBI is asking any victims of Ysenni Gomez to come forward.
In the case against her, Gomez is accused of tricking the Venezuelan woman into believing she was interviewing for a waitressing job at a Manhattan restaurant in June.
After an initial bogus interview, the woman showed up to the restaurant, but was told by Gomez to get into a car, prosecutors allege.
The accused sex trafficker then told the woman she would be working as a prostitute, not as a waitress — and threatened to call immigration authorities if she didn’t comply.
The victim initially declined to engage in sex work, but relented days later at a meeting with Gomez at Grand Central Station, according to the complaint.
For the next three weeks, the victim was forced into prostitution, meeting up to three men a night for three nights a week, the complaint states.
The victim met both “regular” and “VIP” clients, the complaint states, who paid $200 and up to $700 for each encounter, respectively.
Law enforcement tracked Gomez down earlier this month when an undercover officer responded to an ad on Bedpage.com that had a photo of a nearly naked woman on all fours and advertised, “Yonkers kitty cat available to tease outcall-23.”
The undercover agreed to meet the prostitute associated with the ad at a Tarrytown hotel the following afternoon.
Officers who were in place at the hotel saw Gomez drop off the victim after she drove up in her black Infiniti SUV, according to the complaint.
After the undercover briefly spoke with the victim through Google Translate, Gomez was arrested.
The FBI is investigating if there are other sex traffickers involved in the operation, Kelley said.
An attorney for Gomez did not immediately respond.