Like father, like son.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office announced this afternoon they have arrested an Allentown, PA father-son duo who ran a prostitution ring out of livery cars in Midtown Manhattan.
According to police, Vincent George, Sr., 55, and his son, Vincent George, Jr. 33, hired livery car drivers to chauffeur prostitutes in from Allentown. They also brought women in from Queens.
The drivers would bring the women to meet with johns at upscale bars and hotels in Midtown Manhattan. The women would also solicit clients outside strip clubs, by handing out business cards under fake names offering their services as “professional masseuses.”
The women, who charged between $200 and $500 per customer, would then have sex in hotels, apartments, and even the backseats of the livery cars. Sex trafficking watchdog groups in New York have been warning for some time now about the increasing problem of livery cars being used for prostitution.
The women were given quotas of a certain amount of money they were required to earn every month, and berated if they fell short, they told cops. They also said they were regularly threatened with beatings if they were late, or didn’t bring in enough cash for the Georges.
“This was not your typical father and son business,” said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. “Vincent George Sr. and Vincent George Jr. exploited women, transporting them from Pennsylvania to johns in Midtown Manhattan. “
The Georges would use psychological manipulation and violent domination in an effort to maintain their control over the women, police say.
For example, they branded some of the women with tattoos depicting their hooker names. They even forced one of the women to be tattooed with a bar code as well. The women say that the father and son were masterminds at psychological abuse, first demeaning the women and later showering them with offers of love and affection.
“Similar to what we see in domestic violence cases, these victims are often emotionally and economically dependent upon their abusers, and remain silent as their worlds grow smaller and more dangerous,” said Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance.
The two converted the cash the women brought into money orders and then laundered it through a fake company they had sent up by the name of Grip Entertainment.
Six livery cab drivers, all of whom live in the New York metropolitan area, were also charged with promoting prostitution. The Georges were both charged with sex trafficking, money laundering, and promoting prostitution.
And law enforcement officials promise they are coming for the johns, too: Individuals who paid for the services of the prostituted women are expected to be charged in the coming days.
