Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg today announced the indictment of CHRISTOPHER WITHERSPOON, 38, a/k/a “MANIAK,” LOUIS AUSTIN, 51, a/k/a “TROUBLE,” and Greyhound employee PAUL MIDDLETON, 49, for operating a sex trafficking ring that aimed to recruit vulnerable women at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The men are charged in a New York State Court indictment with Sex Trafficking, Promoting Prostitution in the Fourth Degree, Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree. WITHERSPOON is also charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree.^[1]

“This indictment alleges a highly coordinated operation, with three men conspiring to target a vulnerable woman with nowhere to stay and using brutal force to force her to perform sexual acts,” said District Attorney Bragg. “While midtown transit hubs are all too often the recruitment sites for such operations, this Greyhound employee had unique access, as we allege, to target vulnerable women. Because of this, we have reason to believe there may be more survivors of this operation. My Office’s Human Trafficking Response Unit is fully equipped to support survivors, with dedicated prosecutors and investigators working alongside specially trained social workers. Please call us at 212-335-3400.” 
 
According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, on January 29, 2023, MIDDLETON, who is employed as a mechanic at Greyhound’s Port Authority location, approached a 35-year-old woman who could not afford a bus ticket, and asked her if she needed somewhere to stay. MIDDLETON contacted AUSTIN, who offered to find somewhere for her to stay. At AUSTIN’S direction, MIDDLETON took the woman to an employee-only area of Port Authority, where he took partially nude photographs of her before groping her and offering to pay her for sexual acts.

Afterward, AUSTIN contacted WITHERSPOON to pick up the woman and take her to WITHERSPOON’s apartment in NYCHA’s Rangel Houses. For the next 12 days, WITHERSPOON repeatedly sexually assaulted the woman and used violence, threats, and other forms of coercion to force her to engage in commercial sexual acts with multiple men in hotels in Queens and the Bronx.
 
WITHERSPOON sexually assaulted her before many of the forced commercial sexual acts and took the money she made. He recorded the sexual assaults and used the videos and other nude photographs in online prostitution advertisements. He restricted access to her cellphone and refused to allow her to call her children. He beat her repeatedly, threatened to shoot her with a firearm, and hit her with a firearm. Additionally, he used threats of violence to force her to marry a stranger who paid WITHERSPOON citing immigration reasons.
 
AUSTIN and WITHERSPOON collaborated throughout, including discussing the woman’s compliance with their rules and finding more women to work for them. At one point during the 12-day period, WITHERSPOON forced the woman to tell a second woman she had to comply with WITHERSPOON’s rules. On another occasion, MIDDLETON contacted the 35-year old woman about a third woman who needed somewhere to stay and told her that he wanted to put that third woman in contact with AUSTIN and WITHERSPOON.
 
Finally, on February 9, 2023, WITHERSPOON brought the first woman to a store near his apartment and demanded that she use her food stamps to buy him hot food. When she told him she could not use food stamps for that purpose, he hit her in the face with a closed fist and a firearm. The woman called 911, and police responded. WITHERSPOON fled and was arrested the following day for the assault, after officers observed him lunge at the woman in the hallway of his apartment building. Following his arrest, police recovered three firearms from WITHERSPOON’S apartment. The D.A.’s Office’s Human Trafficking Response Unit conducted the investigation leading to today’s indictment.

Assistant D.A. Courtney Razner (Deputy Chief of the Human Trafficking Response Unit) and Assistant D.A. Mirah Curzer (Domestic Violence Unit) are handling the prosecution of this case under the supervision of Executive Assistant D.A. Justin McNabney (Chief of the Special Victims Division). Senior Investigators Ariela DaSilva and Sean Ryan, Investigative Analyst Alexa Underwood, and Digital Evidence Analyst Leslie Martinez assisted with the investigation.

D.A. Bragg thanked NYPD Officer Kevin McDermott of the 32nd Precinct, Port Authority Police Department Detective Cecil Tueros, and the West New York Police Department (NJ) for their assistance.

Defendant Information:
 
CHRISTOPHER WITHERSPOON, a/k/a “MANIAK”
New York, NY

Charges:

• Sex Trafficking, a class B felony, two counts
• Promoting Prostitution in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, one count
• Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a class C felony, four counts
• Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, a class D felony, two counts
• Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, two counts
• Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, a class A misdemeanor, one count

 
LOUIS AUSTIN, a/k/a “TROUBLE”
Queens, NY
 
Charges:

• Sex Trafficking, a class B felony, two counts
• Promoting Prostitution in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, one count
• Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, two counts
• Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, a class A misdemeanor, one count

 
PAUL MIDDLETON
Queens, NY
 
Charges:

• Sex Trafficking, a class B felony, two counts
• Promoting Prostitution in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, one count
• Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, two counts
• Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, a class A misdemeanor, one count

^[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.
 

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