"Sterling met the first victim, a 22-year-old woman, in 2019 and forced her to engage in sex for money at various locations in Queens through November 2022. Sterling took photographs of the victim and used them to create online ads for sex. He communicated with customers, arranged prostitution bookings and required the victim to turn over all proceeds from the sexual encounters to him."
"Sterling struck the victim when she withheld cash or refused to comply with his orders. Sterling routinely inflicted violence on the victim, including when she did not want to have sex with customers for money. On one occasion, Sterling struck her so hard that he broke some of her teeth. During another assault, Sterling struck her in the head with a glass bottle, requiring the victim to get staples to close the laceration to her head."
"Sterling met the second victim, a 19-year-old woman, in August 2021. They began an intimate relationship, which transitioned into the defendant instructing the victim to have sex with men in exchange for money. The defendant posted prostitution ads, arranged the encounters and collected all the proceeds from the sex acts."
Cleveland Sterling, 38, of Uniondale, was convicted of sex trafficking, promoting prostitution, robbery, and related crimes after a two-day jury deliberation. Sterling exploited three women by forcing them into prostitution, creating online advertisements using their photographs, arranging bookings with customers, and confiscating all earnings. He employed systematic violence and intimidation, including striking victims, breaking teeth, and assaulting them with objects like glass bottles. Sterling met victims through personal relationships, then coerced them into sexual exploitation. When victims resisted or withheld money, he responded with brutal physical violence. One victim reported Sterling to NYPD after he forcibly stole money from her, with officers documenting visible bruising on her body.
Read at QNS
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