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Queens Man Accused Of Kidnapping 19-Year-Old, Forcing Her Into Prostitution

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Queens man is accused of holding a teenage girl hostage and violently forcing her into prostitution over the course of six months.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said 20-year-old Dayshawn Preston forced the 19-year-old victim to have sex with men inside the basement of his home on 196th Street in Jamaica.

The teen was victimized between Aug. 1, 2015 and Feb. 9, 2016, the district attorney said.

Preston allegedly threatened the victim with physical violence repeatedly. If the teen didn't make at least $500 per night, she was either allegedly beaten, deprived of food or deprived of a shower.

DA Brown said Preston took the victim's birth certificate, Social Security card and state identification card, and told her she was "his property."

"Prostitution is not a victimless crime. The woman - still in her teens - was threatened, beaten and escaped from her ordeal only after making a desperate call to 911," Brown said in a statement. "...The defendant faces a lengthy prison term for sex trafficking - a very violent and degrading crime that can not be tolerated."

The district attorney said the woman's terrifying ordeal came to an end after she reached for a cell phone Preston had dropped and dialed 911 as she ran from him.

Preston allegedly caught the victim and they struggled for the phone.

"That call ended with her screaming as the defendant allegedly struck her with a frying pan," Brown said.

According to the complaint, Preston also victimized another young woman. The girl was allegedly forced into prostitution in the same basement and beaten if she did not produce enough money. Any charges related to that case were not disclosed by the DA.

Preston is charged with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape, sex trafficking, second-degree promoting prostitution, third-degree assault and second-degree menacing. He is being held on $750,000 bail and is due back in court on Feb. 24.

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