FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 13, 2021
Coney Island Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison Following
Guilty Plea to Sex Trafficking of a Child
Defendant Raped and Trafficked 16-Year-Old Girl
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Coney Island man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the trafficking of a child, who was the friend of his relative, a 17-year-old girl.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Thankfully, two teenagers are now safe from this defendant, who betrayed the trust of a relative and trafficked her vulnerable young friend. With today’s sentence he has been held to account for his crimes. I remain committed to bringing sexual predators such as this to justice and protecting victims of sexual assault and trafficking.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Bruce Vanderveer, 46, of Coney Island, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to 10 years in prison following his May 26, 2021 guilty plea to one count of sex trafficking of a child. The defendant was also sentenced to 10 years’ post-release supervision and must register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on July 18, 2019, the defendant raped a 17-year-old relative inside of his apartment on West 24th Street in Coney Island. Afterward, the girl locked herself in the bathroom and called her aunt, who called 911. Police responded and found the teen crying outside of the apartment building and the defendant was arrested.
Subsequently, an investigation by the New York City Police Department determined that between June 9, 2019 and July 18, 2019, the relative’s 16-year-old friend also stayed at the defendant’s apartment. On numerous occasions, the defendant sexually assaulted and raped the 16-year-old while she was asleep.
Furthermore, according to the investigation, the defendant had the younger girl engage in sexual acts for money with other adult men, both inside of his apartment and elsewhere. She was forced to give over all the proceeds from the sexual encounters to the defendant.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Jacques Roussel, of the District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Unit, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Sabeeha Madni, Deputy Unit Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory, Chief of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau.
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