Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini has announced the sentencing of a Sound Beach man to prison for conducting a human trafficking operation out of the basement of his parents’ house over the course of several years.
Raymond Rodio III, 49, pleaded guilty on Feb. 4 to one count of Sex Trafficking, as a B violent felony; four counts of Sex Trafficking, as a B felony; one count of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a B felony; one count of Promoting Prostitution in the Second Degree, a C felony; and one count of Promoting Prostitution in the Third Degree, a D felony.
Rodio was sentenced today by Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Mark Cohen to nine and one-half years in prison with five years of post-release supervision on the top count of the indictment. He was also registered as a sex offender.
“This defendant had a sex dungeon in his parents’ home and forced women into sex slavery,” District Attorney Sini said. “He pleaded guilty because the evidence was overwhelming thanks to the team who investigated and prosecuted this case, and today he met his fate. As we’ve made clear, my Office, the Suffolk County Police Department and all of our law enforcement partners are committed to ending the scourge of human trafficking here in Suffolk County. This case sends a clear message to those who are trafficking women and girls in this County that we will not stand for it.”
“Raymond Rodio III was engaged in the unthinkable for years — a sex trafficking operation in his parents’ basement and today he will be punished for the damage he caused to more than 20 victims,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said. “Bringing justice to these women is part of the important work of the department’s Human Trafficking Investigations Unit. I commend those investigators as well as the District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Team for their dedication to combatting this issue and holding those who force women into prostitution for their own financial gain accountable for their actions.”
In August 2018, the Suffolk County Police Department identified a suspected victim of human trafficking during a routine traffic stop. An investigation by the Police Department’s Human Trafficking Investigations Unit revealed evidence that the victim had been forced into sex trafficking by Rodio in the spring of 2018.
Further investigation by the Human Trafficking Investigations Unit and the District Attorney’s Office’s Human Trafficking Team revealed that Rodio had been conducting a human trafficking operation out of the basement of his parents’ residence, located on Lower Rocky Point Road in Sound Beach, since as early as 2014. The investigation identified more than 20 victims of Rodio’s sex trafficking operation.
Rodio would post advertisements on websites, including Backpage and Craigslist, promoting prostitution by the victims and would keep either a large percentage or all of the profits of their prostitution.
The investigation also revealed evidence that Rodio would occasionally keep victims in the basement for extended periods of time and force them to use a bucket as a toilet because the basement does not have a bathroom. The door to the basement has an exterior lock to which Rodio had the only key. In addition to the house, Rodio also forced the victims to perform prostitution at various motels throughout Suffolk County.
Rodio coerced his victims into performing prostitution by providing them with heroin and crack cocaine to impair their judgment as well as subjecting one victim to threats of physical violence.
The Suffolk County Police Department’s Narcotics Section, in conjunction with the Human Trafficking Investigations Unit, began a subsequent investigation that revealed Rodio was also engaged in selling drugs.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Daniel Cronin, formerly of the Enhanced Prosecution Bureau and currently assigned to the Vehicular Crimes Bureau.
