A New York man who authorities say has a tendency to commit violence against female sex workers was arrested on Friday. Andrew Frey,54, from Long Island was taken into federal custody early Friday morning and is being held without bail. Neighbors told NBC New York they saw the SWAT team at Andrew’s home. The evidence they collected from his home included rope, zip ties, and manuals on knot tying.
Frey will face two counts of attempted trafficking and two counts of attempted kidnapping. He is a married father of two, according to NBC New York. He is being accused of trying to abduct sex workers on two different occasions with the “intent of forcing them to enagage in commercial sex acts,” the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York said in court documents.
The first occurrence was in July and the second one was in October 2018. Frey had arranged meetings with these two women. Through force, he attempted to take both of them to a “secluded location.” Kidnapping them against their “strong objections” the federal prosecutor’s office said in the court documents. Both of these women escaped Frey by jumping out of his moving vehicle. These women in the process sustained injuries in the process. “The nature of his conduct towards Jane Does #1 and #2 was sufficiently violent that both deemed it a safer option to throw themselves from a moving vehicle in order to escape the defendant,” prosecutors said.
Frey continually tried to contact both women after they escaped. During the situation he was armed with a weapon. He tried but failed to kidnap Jane Doe #1 a second time. She was able to escape once again. A third sex worker had previously taken out a restraining order against Frey after he intentially rammed his vehicle into hers, the documents outlined. The victim said that Andrew violated the restraining order by calling her and leaving threatening voicemails. The authorities think more victims are involved in this situation.
Authorities say Frey has a history of violence against sex workers and poses a threat to the community. Frey, a married father of two, was a manager at an aircraft components factory. He had a few prior convictions such as criminal positions of stolen property. NBA News reached out to Frey’s lawyer on Saturday but did not immediately hear back.
The U.S. attorney’s office said in the court documents that if he is convicted Frey can face up to a 15-year minimum sentence. Some solutions to stop violence against sex workers, big companies can possibly try and help raise money to keep them off the streets. Help them get jobs so they do not have to live that life. In areas where they are working have more police officers on duty in those specific locations so they feel safer. Maybe even have a device if its even out there, to have a panic button so when something goes wrong the police will be there in a matter of minutes.
