BAY SHORE MAN AND CENTRAL ISLIP WOMAN INDICTED FOR SEX TRAFFICKING

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Danny St. Louis, 43, of Bay Shore, and Samantha Wimmer, 37, of Central Islip, were indicted for sex trafficking and other related charges, for the alleged commercial sexual exploitation of two female victims. St. Louis is also indicted for allegedly raping a 13-year-old child numerous times.

“Sex trafficking a human being is heinous and intolerable, and these are serious allegations that we look forward to proving in court,” said District Attorney Tierney. “I am committed to ensuring that our vulnerable populations are protected from predators who seek to violate and exploit women and children, by whatever lawful means available.”

According to the investigation, in early 2023, St. Louis allegedly met a 13-year-old child through a mutual acquaintance and provided her with cocaine. St. Louis allegedly began to communicate with the child regularly and then began to sexually abuse her.  During that time, St. Louis allegedly introduced the child to crack cocaine, causing her to become addicted to the drug. The abuse continued until October 2023, after the victim had run away from a residential drug treatment facility and was found by police on October 8, 2023, in a hotel room with St. Louis. Wimmer was allegedly staying in a separate room in the same hotel.

From this incident, St. Louis was arrested and charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class A misdemeanor, and Unlawful Dealing with a Child, a Class A misdemeanor. St. Louis was arraigned on those charges and released from jail without bail because both charges are considered non-bail eligible under current New York State law, meaning prosecutors cannot ask for, and judges cannot set bail. While that case was pending, law enforcement continued to investigate the full extent of the abuse that the 13-year-old victim had allegedly suffered.

Between March 2023 and March 2024, St. Louis allegedly advertised and sold women for sex several times to various buyers, using heroin and crack cocaine as a method of maintaining control over at least one of the victims. Wimmer allegedly assisted St. Louis in photographing and advertising the victim they controlled with drugs. Additionally, St. Louis allegedly took that victim’s identification and phone to prevent her from leaving or refusing to engage in sex for his own profit.

On March 3, 2024, St. Louis allegedly arranged to have a 20-year-old woman meet him at the hotel room that he and Wimmer were staying in. St. Louis then allegedly provided that woman with crack cocaine, and then would not let the victim leave the hotel room for two days, prompting her family to file a missing person report with authorities. At one point, St. Louis allegedly accused the victim of stealing crack cocaine from him and forced her to undress, shower, and then have sex with him as punishment. Wimmer allegedly filmed that rape, and she and St. Louis discussed a plan to use the video as an advertisement to sell the victim to sex buyers. On March 5, 2024, the victim had an opportunity to get away from St. Louis and Wimmer and fled the hotel to call her family. The victim’s family then notified the police, who went and recovered the victim.

On March 14, 2024, both defendants were arrested after Wimmer allegedly agreed to provide a buyer with sex and drugs in exchange for money.

St. Louis was indicted on the following charges:

• One count of Rape in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony;
• One count of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony;
• Two counts of Sex Trafficking, Class B felonies;
• Two counts of Attempted Sex Trafficking, Class C felonies;
• One count of Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance, a Class C felony;
• One count of Strangulation, a Class D violent felony;
• Ten counts of Criminal Sexual Act in the Second Degree, Class D violent felonies;
• Three counts of Rape in the Second Degree, Class D violent felonies;
• One count of Promoting Prostitution in the Third Degree, a Class D felony;
• One count of Rape in the Third Degree, a Class E felony;
• One count of Criminal Sexual Act in the Third Degree, a Class E felony;
• One count of Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child, a Class E felony;
• One count of Unlawfully Dealing with a Child, a Class A misdemeanor;
• One count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class A misdemeanor; and
• One count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree, a Class A misdemeanor.

Wimmer was indicted on the following charges:

• One count of Sex Trafficking, a Class B felony;
• Two counts of Attempted Sex Trafficking, Class C felonies;
• One count of Promoting Prostitution in the Third Degree, a Class D felony; and
• One count of Prostitution, a Class A misdemeanor.

On April 11, 2024, St. Louis and Wimmer were arraigned on the indictment before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei.

Justice Mazzei ordered St. Louis held without bail during the pendency of the case. He is due back in court on May 6, 2024, and is being represented by Christopher Brocato, Esq.

Justice Mazzei ordered Wimmer held on $500,000 cash, $1 million bond, or $5 million partially secured bond during the pendency of the case. She is due back in court on May 9, 2024, and is being represented by Peter Mayer, Esq.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Dana Castaldo and Zachary Kelly of the Hate Crimes, Elder Abuse, Anti-Bias, and Human Trafficking (H.E.A.T.) Unit, and the investigation was conducted by members of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Human Trafficking Investigations Unit, the First, Third, and Sixth Squads of the Suffolk County Police Department, as well as Detective Investigators from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

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Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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