Queens Man Accused Of Trafficking Girls As Young As 14 Across LI, NYC: Feds

HUNTINGTON, NY — A Queens man accused of trafficking girls as young as 14 across Long Island and New York City was arrested Wednesday night at a Huntington motel and charged in a 12-count federal indictment, prosecutors said.

Tyrone Stylistic Crooks, 33, of St. Albans, Queens, was indicted on accusations of sex trafficking five victims, including three minor girls who were between 14 and 17 years old at the time of the crimes, according to federal prosecutors and court records. The indictment was filed on March 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Federal prosecutors said Crooks is charged with multiple counts of sex trafficking, sex trafficking of minors, sexual exploitation of minors, transportation of a minor for prostitution, and Mann Act transportation. Prosecutors say he trafficked five victims in total, three of whom were minors.

Crooks was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lee G. Dunst in Central Islip, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the crimes span from at least 2021 to the present and involve conduct in Brooklyn, Queens, and on Long Island, including Westbury, Woodbury, Hicksville, Melville, Bethpage, and Huntington.

Prosecutors say Crooks operated as a pimp, used online communications to entice victims, paid for their travel, advertised commercial sex acts on the internet, set prices, arranged prostitution “dates,” controlled the money earned, and demanded repayment for hotel rooms and other expenses.

Federal authorities said Crooks used force, threats, fraud, and coercion to control victims and physically assaulted multiple victims, including one who was pregnant at the time. Prosecutors said he also demanded sex acts from victims himself and told at least one victim in text messages that she was not allowed to say no.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said Crooks preyed on vulnerable people and used threats, violence and manipulation for profit.

“As alleged, the defendant preyed on vulnerable members of the community, subjecting his victims to threats, violence, and manipulation so that he could sell their bodies for his own profit,” Nocella said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said one message from Jan. 27, 2025, instructed a minor to do her makeup for photos and referenced baby oil.

Prosecutors said a search of Crooks’ iCloud account turned up multiple child pornography images from that same date, including one video in which a male believed to be the defendant is seen pouring baby oil on a naked child who is dancing.

Prosecutors said that after one pregnant victim accused Crooks in a text of punching her in the stomach and hurting her baby, he blamed her in a reply message.

“Cases like this remind us that children in our communities are still being exploited by traffickers who see them as commodities rather than young people with futures,” FBI Newark Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy said in the release.

If convicted of sex trafficking using force, fraud, or coercion, Crooks faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and up to life, prosecutors said. If convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor, he faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. If convicted of trafficking a minor, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison.

The indictment also includes criminal forfeiture allegations. Federal prosecutors said that if Crooks is convicted on certain counts, the government will seek forfeiture of property used to commit or facilitate the crimes, property traceable to the offenses, and any proceeds derived from them.