Escort jumped from six-story window after being kidnapped, prostituted
Two men have been charged with kidnapping a woman and forcibly prostituting her for two days until she finally escaped by jumping out of a six-story window, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
Benjamin Gaston, 36, and Johnny Jackson, 53, have been indicted for raping and sexually assaulting a prostituted woman who they held captive for two days in November.
Gaston brought the victim, 28, to Jackson’s apartment on West 92nd Street around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13. She was then robbed, raped and forced to have sex with multiple men. She called 911 from a phone in the apartment but was not able to relay her location to police.
On the next evening, Gaston brought the woman to another apartment on West 149th Street where several men were waiting. She was locked in the bedroom and told she would be forced to have sex with each of the men. The woman then tried to escape through a window and ended up falling six stories, breaking bones in her back, leg and arm.
“The facts of this crime are truly heinous – these defendants are accused of holding a woman hostage in order to essentially enslave and prostitute her,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. “They are also charged with raping and sexually assaulting her, making her so fearful for her life that she tried to escape from a sixth-floor window.”
The men are charged with kidnapping, rape and sex trafficking, among other charges.
