LI Man who Lured 2 Women Who Escaped His Moving Car Convicted Of Sex Trafficking: Feds

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — A Long Island man has been of sex trafficking and attempted kidnapping after authorities caught him with a bevy of restraining devices after luring two women into his car, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Andrew Frey, 57, of Coram was convicted on Sept. 20 of sex trafficking and the attempted kidnapping of two women prosecutors say he lured into his car and were later jumped from the moving vehicle to get away from him.

Frey pleaded guilty to additional charges of being a felon in possession of a gun and obstructing justice on Tuesday.

He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment, and up to life in prison, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Frey tried to traffic and kidnap two women in Suffolk County, adding that in October 2018, he lured a sex worker who was addicted to heroin into his car in Mastic, and when she refused to accompany him to a secluded location on the beach, he "became enraged and threatened her life."

He tried to trap her inside his car by speeding, locking the doors, and grabbing her neck, but the woman escaped by jumping from his moving vehicle, suffering injuries to her back when she struck the pavement, prosecutors said.

Frey later tracked down the woman who was sleeping inside of a friend’s parked car at a Long Island Railroad station, and armed with a knife, he tried to take her from the car, but her friend sped away, prosecutors said, adding that he then chased after them in his car, but she escaped again.

About a year later, in July 2019, he tried to take a second sex worker to a secluded wooded area in Coram, and when she refused, he again became enraged, "screaming that he owned her and tried to prevent her from leaving by grabbing her as he was driving," prosecutors said.

The second woman also escaped by jumping out of his moving car, but suffered injuries to her knee, according to prosecutors.

When he was arrested in November 2019, law enforcement officers searched his car and found multiple sets of handcuffs, knives, rope, and other items that he could use for restraining victims, prosecutors said.

Frey had installed a device in his car that allowed him to conceal his license plate with the push of a button and he had a Glock 23 handgun and ammunition inside of a safe inside his home, according to prosecutors.

Because he is a convicted felon and was not legally permitted to possess a firearm, he pressured his son to obtain a pistol permit to conceal that he was the true owner of the firearm, prosecutors said.

Frey's guilty plea was announced Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Michael Driscoll, assistant director-in-charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office; and Rodney Harrison, commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department, made the announcement Tuesday.

Peace said Frey "targeted and used violence against vulnerable members of our society seeking to exploit them for his own sexual gratification.”

“Fortunately, the young women whom the defendant sought to victimize were able to
escape," he said. "Today’s guilty plea, and the jury’s verdict, make clear there was no escape from justice for this dangerous defendant.”

Peace also thanked the 0ffices of the Suffolk Sheriff and District Attorney, as well as the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for their assistance on the case.

Driscoll said the victims "jumped from a moving vehicle rather than risk the fate Frey had waiting for them."

"Based on the weapons investigators discovered, Frey's intent was dangerous, if not deadly," he said. "These women should be commended for their bravery, which we hope will serve as motivation for any other women being victimized by sexual predators to call us.”

Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said Frey "has proven to be a dangerous individual with a propensity for preying upon and attacking vulnerable women who refuse to bend to the will of a sexual predator."

“I commend the victims for taking action and coming forward to work with law enforcement to bring a violent and dangerous man to justice,” he added.