Couple Indicted For Third Time In Queens After Alleged Kidnapping: DA

QUEENS – A Brooklyn woman and a Long Island man were indicted for the third time on multiple charges Thursday after allegedly kidnapping a man who responded to an online prostitution advertisement, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.

A grand jury indicted Destiny Lebron, 19, and Gil Iphael, 22, after they supposedly kidnapped, robbed, and assaulted the 23-year-old victim in Corona on Aug. 14, prosecutors said.

The couple could spend up to 75 years in jail if convicted of all indictments, Katz said.

In August, the victim responded to an online prostitution advertisement that led him to a residence in Corona located at 108th Street, the district attorney’s office said.

The victim was directed by Lebron to a bedroom, and then Iphael entered the room, punched the victim in the face, head and body, and harmed his toe with a tool, prosecutors said.

The defendants threatened to cut the victim’s toe if he did not comply with giving them money, and the 23-year-old man handed the couple his car keys which they used to retrieve his wallet inside the vehicle, Katz said.

Both defendants withdrew cash from nearby ATM machines and then forced the victim to make a recording stating he was at the location to have sex with a minor, which the couple threatened to post if the victim reported the incident to the police, the district attorney’s office said.

The couple returned some of the victim’s items and he went to a nearby care facility, received eight stitches to his toe, and called the police, the district attorney’s office said .

The defendants were also indicted in August on kidnapping and assault charges, and in September on sex trafficking charges, prosecutors said.