A 42-year-old Harlem man was convicted of running a violent prostitution operation that trafficked one woman and included the sexual assault of a second, whom he picked up at the Port Authority Bus Terminal with help from a Greyhound employee. Christopher Witherspoon was found guilty following a bench trial of sex trafficking, criminal sexual act in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, promoting prostitution in the third degree, and conspiracy in the fourth degree.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg
announced the conviction Wednesday, saying Witherspoon controlled the women, assaulted and threatened them, and has now been held accountable. Prosecutors say Witherspoon's scheme relied on exploiting people with nowhere else to turn.
Manhattan District Attorney's Office
.
A Club Encounter Turned Into Years of Control
According to prosecutors, Witherspoon met the first survivor in 2020 while she was working at a club, and she agreed to work for him in prostitution. A few weeks after she gave birth, he beat and sexually assaulted her, and she did not escape with her child until fall 2022. That timeline, laid out in the DA's announcement, shows the relationship spanned roughly two years before she was able to flee.
The second survivor's ordeal began in a very different setting: the Port Authority Bus Terminal, a transit hub that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office's announcement notes has long served as a recruitment site for traffickers targeting people with nowhere to stay. That vulnerability is exactly what prosecutors say Witherspoon's network was built to exploit.
A Greyhound Mechanic's Role in the Scheme
Paul Middleton, a Greyhound employee, was accused in the indictment detailed by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office of identifying the second survivor at Port Authority in early 2023, taking nude photos of her, and coordinating with Witherspoon and Louis Austin to hand her off. Witherspoon then picked her up and brought her to his Harlem apartment, where he controlled her schedule and income for roughly two weeks.
During that time, the woman witnessed Witherspoon in possession of multiple firearms. She managed to leave the apartment and call 911 on February 9, 2023, after he assaulted her, and Witherspoon was arrested the following day. A search warrant led authorities to recover two firearms from his apartment.
Co-Defendants Took Plea Deals, Witherspoon Went to Trial
Both Middleton and Austin resolved their cases before Witherspoon's trial, pleading guilty to fifth-degree conspiracy and fourth-degree promoting prostitution, per the Manhattan District Attorney's Office announcement. That outcome let them avoid felony trial exposure, while Witherspoon's decision to fight the case at a bench trial ended instead in convictions on multiple top-tier counts.
Under New York Penal Law Section 230.34, sex trafficking is a Class B felony. Witherspoon was also convicted of criminal sexual act in the first degree. Witherspoon is scheduled to be sentenced on December 3.
Specialized Prosecutors and Investigators Behind the Case
The prosecution was handled by Jeannie Campbell-Urban and Jonathon Junig, chief of the Human Trafficking Unit, and supervised by Justin McNabney, chief of the Special Victims Division. Ariela DaSilva, Sean Ryan, and Nina Huang supported the investigation, which also involved the NYPD's 32nd Precinct. Bragg specifically thanked the precinct and Police Officer Kevin McDermott for their work on the case.
That Human Trafficking Response Unit, housed within the Special Victims Division, pairs prosecutors and investigators with clinical social workers and runs a hotline at 212-335-3400, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. The unit has notched several trial convictions this year, including the August case of 63-year-old Curtis Brown, who was found guilty of running a multi-victim trafficking operation with $3,500 weekly quotas, as Hoodline previously reported.
Why Transit Hubs Remain a Flashpoint
Port Authority has an anonymous tip hotline at 800-828-7273, according to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.
Statewide, New York City accounts for 43% of all confirmed human trafficking victims, with sex trafficking making up 64% of confirmed cases, according to task force data cited by The Fast Law Firm. Legislative efforts have also sought to eliminate the statute of limitations for sex trafficking.
