Brooklyn Man Who Sex Trafficked 16-Year-Old Girls Gets 10 Years: DA

BROOKLYN, NY — A Flatbush man who sex trafficked two 16-year-old girls has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to prosecutors.

Steven Bell, 36, pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a child after investigators caught him forcing two teenage girls to have sex for money, according to the Brooklyn District Attorneys Office.

Bell was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison, plus five years post-release supervision and will be required to register as a sex offender as part of the deal, prosecutors said.

“This defendant took advantage of two vulnerable children to make himself money," District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "Child exploitation for sex is a real and persistent problem and I remain committed to investigate, vigorously prosecute and hold accountable anyone who engages in this appalling and harmful conduct.”

The sentence for Bell comes more than a year after investigators first found out he was sex trafficking the 16-year-old girls, who he would post provocative photos of online as advertisements for sex in exchange for money, prosectors said.

Bell first convinced one of the teenagers to engage in prostitution after she traveled to Brooklyn from a residential facility outside New York City in October 2020, prosecutors said.

Bell, who took all the money the teen made, posted photos of the teenager online with the help of a woman who has not yet been caught, according to officials.

"He had a series of rules regarding how to walk, talk, act, and dress that he made the teen comply with, and he subsequently took all the money she was paid," prosecutors said.

Within weeks, the teen contacted another 16-year-old girl she knew and the second girl came to Brooklyn, where Bell and his accomplice took photos of the girls together, prosecutors said. Bell trafficked the two girls until December 2020, according to officials.