Man Kidnapped Responding To Sex Ad; Long Islander Among 2 Charged

QUEENS, NY — A Long Island man and a woman from Brooklyn were indicted a third time after prosecutors said they kidnapped a man who responded to an online prostitution advertisement, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.

A grand jury indicted Gil Iphael, 22, of Valley Stream and 19-year-old Destiny Lebron after they kidnapped, robbed, and attacked the 23-year-old victim in Corona on Aug. 14, prosecutors said.

The couple could spend up to 75 years in jail if convicted of all indictments, Katz said.

In August, the victim responded to an online prostitution advertisement that led him to a residence in Corona located at 108th Street, the district attorney’s office said.

The victim was directed by Lebron to a bedroom, and then Iphael entered the room, punched the victim in the face, head and body, and wounded his toe with a tool, prosecutors said.

When the defendants threatened to cut the victim’s toe if he refused to give them money, the 23-year-old man handed over his car keys, which they used to take his wallet from inside the vehicle, Katz said.

Both defendants withdrew cash from nearby ATMs, then forced the victim to make a recording stating he was at the location to have sex with a minor, which the couple threatened to post if the victim reported the incident to the police, prosecutors said.

The couple returned some of the victim’s items, and he went to a nearby care facility, received eight stitches to his toe, and called the police, the district attorney’s office said.

The defendants were also indicted in August on kidnapping and assault charges, and in September on sex trafficking charges, prosecutors said.