Bronx DA says teen girl was lured into sex trafficking with dating app, 10 indicted

Ten people have been accused of sex trafficking a 16-year-old girl in the Bronx, in a 79-count indictment announced Thursday.

The nine men and one woman face a range of charges, including sex trafficking of a child, promoting prostitution, rape and criminal sexual act, authorities said. Prosecutors said the teen was drugged with ecstasy, beaten so severely her jaw was fractured, and forced to tattoo her trafficker’s name on her face.

In a statement Thursday, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said the girl is now receiving support from the Crime Victims Assistance Bureau and has been “able to move on to a better future.”

“The victim courageously testified in the grand jury to expose her alleged traffickers and rapists,” Clark said. “This young girl lived a nightmare of abuse and exploitation that began with a dating app. Please remember that there is help for victims of trafficking; we can get you out of it and protect you.”

Investigators from the Bronx DA’s Human Trafficking Unit and the NYPD’s Human Trafficking Squad said 48-year-old Tesean Green met the teen on the dating app Tagged in November 2022. Within weeks, he began exploiting her for commercial sex over 15 months, officials said.

Between December 2022 and March 2024, authorities said, Green impersonated the teen online, arranged hundreds of “dates” in New York and Atlantic City, drugged her before the encounters and kept all of her earnings.

Prosecutors said Green had help. His 38-year-old uncle, Joshua Green, was accused of trafficking the teen and forcing her to sell crack cocaine.

Two other defendants, Queens residents Jamel Cameron, 30, and Brianna Jamison, 27, allegedly advertised “dates” with the teen on the commercial sex site MegaPersonals.com, officials said.

The Bronx DA’s office said Tesean Green was incarcerated in New Jersey and will be arraigned on the Bronx charges at a later date. Joshua Green pleaded not guilty in July and remains in custody after a judge reduced his bail. His attorney declined to comment.

Cameron and Jamison also pleaded not guilty at their arraignments last December. They remained in custody pending bail, officials said.

Six other defendants were accused of paying to have sex with the girl, who was underage at the time. They were released without bail. They are Luis Muicela, 43, of Queens; Dale Gordon, 27, of Naugatuck, Connecticut; Jaquan Cherry, 31, of New Rochelle; John Adebiyi, 26, of the Bronx; Richard Stanley, 55, of Newburgh; and Shandel Briggs, 27, of Manhattan.

Attorneys for Muicela, Gordon and Cherry could not be reached for comment. Adebiyi’s attorney declined to comment.

Stanley’s attorney said his client had no role in the case and expects the charges will be dismissed.