Terrell Chery, of Valley Stream, gets 9 years in prison for trafficking 16-year-old girl

A Valley Stream man who used online advertisements to connect a 16-year-old with men for sex at hotels and motels was sentenced to 9 years in prison on Tuesday.

Terrell Chery, 28, pleaded guilty in November to sex trafficking a child, promoting prostitution, third-degree rape, endangering the welfare of a minor and contempt. Attorneys representing Terrell could not be reached for comment.

Police searching for a missing New York City teen on Dec. 23, 2024, found Chery in a room in the Floral Park Motor Lodge with another young woman, who had a judge’s order to keep Chery away from her, the Nassau County District Attorney's Office said. The missing girl was found in another room down the hall, prosecutors said.

Authorities said Chery would connect the 16-year-old with johns for sex and post internet ads for sex with the girl for money. Chery would take a portion of the fee, prosecutors said.

“Terrell Chery took advantage of a vulnerable, missing 16-year-old child, engaging her in sexual intercourse and profiting off of selling her for sex to online buyers,” Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement. “Sex traffickers often target the most vulnerable young girls and women in our communities with empty promises of support and love to get them to submit to a life of prostitution. These individuals are true predators, and my prosecutors will ensure that they are put behind bars where they belong.”

Floral Park Motor Lodge, at 30 Jericho Tpke., has been the site of violence and illegal activity in the past, according to police. It was among 59 hotels and motels across Long Island where paid sexual encounters occurred in recent years, according to a Newsday investigation.

Terrell also has two open cases in Brooklyn for allegedly sex trafficking three teens, 15 and 16. Authorities could not say if it was the same girl.

In those cases, he worked with several other men to offer teenagers for sex in North Carolina and East New York, Brooklyn, posting online sex ads for the underage girls beginning in October 2022, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors said they have text messages between Terrell and his co-defendants complaining the 15-year-old wasn’t earning him enough money, so he passed her off to another man to traffic.