A scathing 75-count grand jury indictment has been handed down to nine people tied to the alleged kidnapping of 14-year-old Emmarae Gervasi, a Long Island girl who vanished for 25 days.
The sickening court documents allege the nine played roles in abusing the Patchogue teen during an evil sex trafficking scheme before her father rescued her from a docked boat on an Islip pier last month, Newsday reported.
Alton Harrell, 35, allegedly picked up Emma from her home overnight on Dec. 9 and brought her to an abandoned house in his hometown of Bellport. He is reportedly charged with first-degree kidnapping and faces up to life in prison.
Medford man Kevin McDonald, 20, is accused of sexually assaulting the girl in the back of his car and then taking her to a Bohemia motel after leaving Harrell’s house.
He is charged with rape and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child.
Daniel Burke, 63, of Bohemia, who allegedly kept the teen in his mobile home for over a day, and boat owner Francis Buckheit, 64, of East Islip, also face first-degree kidnapping charges. They, along with Harrell, face lesser second-degree kidnapping, which can still put the accused away for 25 years.
Another man, Robert Eccleston, 61, of Islip, allegedly kept and raped the girl in a detached garbage container between Dec. 10 and Dec. 13 before she was brought on board the 56-foot vessel. He is also charged with second-degree kidnapping.
Gervasi was allegedly trafficked onto the boat in Islip’s White Cap Marina — a canal inlet street close to the major roadway Montauk Highway — on Dec. 13.
While there, several men allegedly raped her, and two women also sold her body in exchange for drugs, per Newsday.
Buckheit, Burke, and 34-year-old Elizabeth Hunter of Islip are all charged with using a child in a sexual performance.
Hunter and alleged accomplice Jacquelyn Comiskey, 52, of Bellport, are being charged with promoting prostitution in addition to child sex trafficking, which Buckheit is also charged with.
Buckheit had allegedly told Emma he was planning to take her to the Carolinas, according to reports.
Copiage man Bunice Knight, 47, is alleged to have exchanged drugs with Comiskey for sex with the teen in his home on Jan. 2, just before her father, Frank Gervasi, singlehandedly rescued her the next day after an anonymous tip.
Knight is charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, which carries a penalty of up to 25 years. He and Harrell were also brought up on patronizing prostitution.
Another older man, Ralph Knowles, 63, of Brentwood, has been charged with rape and misdemeanors for sexual abuse, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child.
Each of the seven men named in the indictment has also been charged with second-degree rape. All nine defendants are due in Riverhead’s Suffolk Supreme Court on Thursday.
Three others not named in the indictment have also been arrested in the Gervasi case.
They include Daniel Soto, a 36-year-old Bay Shore man who was cuffed for second-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child during her disappearance, and DeShaun McClean, 42, a worker who allegedly groped the girl while she was at a state mental health facility following the abduction in January.
He is charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact with a person incapable of consent and endangering the welfare of a child. Rebecca Browell, 48, who shares an address with Knowles, was also arrested after selling drugs to an undercover police officer, according to Newsday.
Prosecutors accuse her of supplying Gervasi with drugs while also knowing she was having sex with adult men.
