A Hempstead man who prosecutors say turned a Queens street "track" into a hunting ground for a vulnerable teenager is headed to state prison for more than a decade.
Terrence Reid, 46, was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in state prison after pleading guilty to sex trafficking a 15-year-old girl he first contacted on social media. Prosecutors say Reid forced the teen into prostitution on a Queens street track, set a $300-a-day quota and posted semi-nude photos of her online. The girl later slipped out of a hotel room and disclosed the abuse to a caseworker, triggering a joint investigation by the NYPD and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
As reported by News12 Brooklyn, Reid admitted to sex trafficking the teen and received a 12-year state sentence. Prosecutors told the court he first contacted the girl via Instagram when she was 14, then picked her up outside her aunt’s home in Brooklyn in May 2023. According to the outlet, Reid shuffled her between hotels in East Orange, New Jersey, and Queens, and will be required to register as a sex offender after his release.
How prosecutors say he lured and controlled the teen
According to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, prosecutors allege Reid photographed the girl semi-nude at a hotel in East Orange and posted the images alongside photos of an adult woman he employed in the sex trade. The DA’s release states that Reid then drove both the teen and the adult woman to a hotel on Jamaica Avenue and to what is known as the "Penn Track" on Pennsylvania Avenue, where he allegedly forced them to solicit clients overnight.
Investigators say Reid imposed a $300 daily quota on the girl and threatened her when she failed to bring in enough money. The combination of online grooming, movement across state lines and on-the-ground coercion formed the backbone of the trafficking allegations, according to the charging documents.
Escape prompted probe
News12 Brooklyn reports that the teen managed to flee a Queens hotel while Reid was asleep, then took a taxi and told her caseworker what had happened. That disclosure set off an investigation by NYPD detectives from the Human Trafficking Squad and the Brooklyn DA’s Human Trafficking Unit.
Police and prosecutors ultimately built a case that led to Reid’s guilty plea and the 12-year sentence, closing a case that authorities say began with a social media message and spiraled into months of abuse across two states.
Charges, plea and legal fallout
The DA’s office previously announced that Reid had been indicted on charges including sex trafficking of a child, promoting prostitution and endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors said the top charge carried a potential maximum of 25 years in prison.
The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said Assistant District Attorney David Weiss of the Human Trafficking Unit led the prosecution, which relied heavily on investigative work by the NYPD. Under the plea agreement that resulted in the 12-year sentence, Reid will serve his time in state custody and must register as a sex offender after he is released, according to officials.
Where this fits in a larger pattern
Advocates and hotline data say this case is part of a broader trend in which traffickers increasingly turn to social media to find and groom targets. The Polaris Project has documented significant growth in online recruitment and in reports of victims meeting traffickers through platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, a pattern that mirrors the allegations in Reid’s case.
Authorities urge caregivers, educators and caseworkers to take any signs of trafficking or online grooming seriously and to report concerns to local law enforcement or the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
