A Coney Island man will spend 10 years in prison for sexually trafficking an underage girl, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
The defendant, 46-year-old Bruce Vanderveer, pled guilty to one count of sex trafficking of a child on May 26 in Kings County Supreme Court, which came after police arrested him for allegedly raping 17-year-old relative at his W. 24th Street apartment. The girl reportedly locked herself inside the bathroom and called her aunt, who then reported the incident to police, leading to the defendant’s arrest.
Following the arrest, the NYPD found that the defendant had raped the relative’s 16-year-old friend in her sleep on multiple occasions between June 9 and July 18 of 2019, when she stayed at his apartment, according to prosecutors.
The 16-year-old also was forced to engage in sexual acts with adult men for money in the defendant’s apartment and elsewhere, and forced to turn over the profits, according to the district attorney’s office.
In addition to his 10-year sentence, Kings County Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun handed down 10-years post-release supervision and required the defendant register as a sex offender when released from prison.
“Thankfully, two teenagers are now safe from this defendant, who betrayed the trust of a relative and trafficked her vulnerable young friend,” said Kings County District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “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.”
