A Queens woman who sex trafficked a 14-year-old girl from El Salvador and forced her to work without pay has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, the Queens District Attorney’s Office said last Thursday.
Marilyn Roque, 30, was sentenced after pleading guilty in May to sex trafficking of a child, sex trafficking by force, labor trafficking and endangering the welfare of a child.
The teenager first arrived from El Salvador to live with Roque in Roque’s Rockaway Park home in September 2022, according to court documents. Four months later, Roque forced the 14-year-old to have sex with a 49-year-old man for $600 on New Year’s Eve. In addition to pimping her out, Roque, 30, forced the girl to take care of her children and work at a restaurant without pay, threatening her with deportation if she told anyone, prosecutors said.
“This defendant took advantage of a child and forced the 14-year-old to engage in prostitution and work shifts at a restaurant for her own financial gain,” Queens D.A. Melinda Katz said in a statement. “I thank the brave teenager, who came forward and gave us information to build this case and get justice. The trafficking of children — and stripping them of their dignity through forced sex and labor exploitation — is particularly sinister.”
Roque often kept the teenager out of school so she could work, according to the D.A.’s office.
On New Year’s Eve 2022, Roque forced the teen to have sex with her neighbor, Jesus Juarez-Reyas, now 51. Juarez-Reyas has pleaded guilty to rape in the third degree and patronizing a person for prostitution. He and Roque will both be required to register as sex offenders.
Juarez-Reyas is expected to be sentenced July 23.
