Man Forced Missing Woman Into Prostitution: Feds

NEW YORK, NY — A man is facing federal charges for forcing young women, including a Pennsylvania woman who disappeared in New York more than one year ago, into prostitution, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Ishi Woney, of New Jersey, was arrested and charged with sex trafficking by means of force, use of an interstate facility to promote prostitution and violating the Mann Act, federal prosecutors said. If convicted, the 23-year-old man faces a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison.

Woney used force, fraud and coercion to compel an unknown woman into performing sex acts for money in the Bronx and other locations, federal prosecutors said. The accused sex trafficker transported the across multiple state lines in the prostitution scheme, prosecutors said.

"Ishi Woney engaged in a vile form of exploitation, using force and other coercion to compel young women to engage in paid sex for his enrichment," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement.

In addition to forcing the unknown woman into a life of prostitution, Woney was also the pimp of missing woman Corinna Slusser, prosecutors said. Woney advertised the prostitution services of Slusser and the unknown woman online, prosecutors said.

Slusser was reported missing on Sept. 20, 2017 and was last seen at the Haven Motel in Rego Park, Queens, police told Patch. Although she was last seen in Queens, Slusser was reported missing within Harlem's 32nd police precinct where she was likely living at the time of her disappearance.

The NYPD could not provide updates on the investigation into Slusser's disappearance, or say if there are any new leads after a year, but said the search is ongoing.

Photo by NYPD