A Valley Stream man was sentenced to nine years in prison for arranging hotel and motel rooms and advertising a 16-year-old victim online for the purposes of prostitution and engaging in intercourse with the teen victim.
On December 23, 2024, police officers responded to the Floral Park Motor Lodge to assist in the search for a missing 16-year-old juvenile from New York City. When they knocked on the door of one of the hotel rooms, Terrell Chery was found inside the room with a young woman. Officers determined that the woman had a valid and active full Stay Away Order of Protection against Chery, for which he was in violation.
Through the police investigation, the missing juvenile victim was found in a hotel room down the hall from the defendant. It was discovered that Chery met the 16-year-old juvenile victim and engaged in sexual intercourse with her at the Floral Park Motor Lodge.
Chery also advanced prostitution of the juvenile victim by helping secure hotel rooms for her to meet buyers of sex, arranging “dates” for the victim, and facilitating transportation for her to different hotels and motels for prostitution. He also assisted in posting advertisements online of the teen victim and accepted money from her after she engaged in prostitution.
Chery, 28, was arrested on December 23, 2024 by members of the Floral Park Police Department, with the assistance of the FBI Long Island Human Trafficking Task Force and the Kings County District Attorney’s Office.
On November 24, 2025, Chery pleaded guilty before Judge Meryl Berkowitz to charges of Sex Trafficking of a Child (a Class B violent felony); Promoting Prostitution in the Second Degree (a Class C felony); Rape in the Third Degree (a Class E felony); Endangering the Welfare of a Child and Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree (both Class A misdemeanors).
The defendant was sentenced on December 23, 2025, to nine years in prison and 10 years post release supervision. Upon his release, the defendant is ordered to register as a sex offender.
“Terrell Chery took advantage of a vulnerable, missing 16-year-old child, engaging her in sexual intercourse and profiting off of selling her for sex to online buyers,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. a“Sex traffickers often target the most vulnerable young girls and women in our communities with empty promises of support and love to get them to submit to a life of prostitution. These individuals are true predators, and my prosecutors will ensure that they are put behind bars where they belong.”