Missing woman worked as prostitute for suspected sex trafficker
A missing 20-year-old Pennsylvania woman, last seen in September 2017 in New York City, had been working as a prostitute for a suspected sex trafficker, officials said Thursday. Credit: NYPD
A missing 20-year-old Pennsylvania woman, last seen in September 2017 in New York City, had been working as a prostitute for a suspected sex trafficker, officials said Thursday.
Corinna Slusser of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, was last seen on Sept. 20, 2017, in near 1922 Boston Rd. in the Bronx. She last spoke with her mother that day, NYPD officials said. According to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday in Manhattan federal district court, she was one of two alleged sex trafficking victims of Ishi Woney, 23.
Woney, of Manhattan, was charged in the complaint with three prostitution-related offenses, including sex trafficking by means of force and coercion, the complaint said.
Slusser was not named as a victim in the complaint. But a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan and a federal official stated that Slusser was one of two alleged victims. The official identified “victim-2” as Slusser.
According to the complaint, prepared by FBI agent Rachel F. Graves, Woney advertised the prostitution services of the two women, including Slusser, on social media. Slusser was living in a Bronx hotel in September 2017 known for sex trafficking activity when she met Woney, the complaint stated.
It was in September 2017 that Slusser texted Woney with a message as well as a photo of herself, the defendant and the other woman victim, officials said. On Sept. 20 last year, the complaint alleged, Woney had a falling out with Slusser because the other woman, who was not identified, was jealous of Slusser’s relationship with the defendant.
Also that day t Woney was with Slusser in a Queens motel where another man, presumably a customer, was planning to spend the night with Slusser, the complaint stated.
Neither Woney nor the other woman has been accused of any role in Slusser’s disappearance, officials said. Woney was slated to be arraigned Thursday in federal court but information about that court appearance couldn’t be obtained later in the day.
The NYPD is still treating Slusser’s case as a missing person. She is described as blonde, 5-7 and about 140 pounds, with blue eyes. The NYPD asks anyone with information to call Det. Georgia Lessey at 718-363-7762.
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
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