Anthony Wright, of Amityville, pleads not guilty in new missing girl case indictment

An Amityville man accused of raping a 14-year-old East Patchogue girl during her 25-day disappearance in December and January pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges detailed in a superseding indictment unsealed last month.

Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Zack Kelly told acting Supreme Court Justice Karen Wilutis that another defendant in the case brought the girl to the Silverpine Drive home of Anthony Wright, 40, in order to settle a sex-trafficking debt.

Wilutis ordered Wright held in lieu of $350,000 bail, $800,000 bond or $3.5 million partially secured bond during an arraignment in Riverhead. Wright is one of 11 defendants charged in an 83-count superseding indictment related to the teen’s disappearance from Dec. 9 to Jan. 3.

The new indictment unsealed late last month charges Wright with three counts of second-degree rape, aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution and endangering the welfare of a child. Wright faces up to 7 years in prison if convicted of second-degree rape, the top count. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for May 12.

"He vehemently denies having any personal relationship or any sex with this woman," Wright’s attorney, Eric Besso, of Sayville, said following Tuesday’s hearing.

Newsday is not naming the girl, who is now 15, because she is a minor and the alleged victim of a sex crime.

Suffolk prosecutors said the teen was held from Dec. 13 to Jan. 3 on a 56-foot boat docked at the White Cap Marina in Islip owned by defendant Francis Buckheit, 64, of East Islip. Prosecutors allege Buckheit, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, kidnapped and raped the teen during the three weeks she stayed on his boat.

Buckheit arranged for Wright to bring a woman to the boat so another defendant in the case, Daniel Burke, of Bohemia, could have sex with her in exchange for money. Burke, 63, was only able to make partial payment for the tryst, Kelly said.

The victim later overheard Buckheit say during a phone call that he had figured out a way to pay the rest of the bill, Kelly told the judge. Buckheit later drove the girl to the Silverpine Drive home, where Wright had sex with the teen and provided her with crack cocaine. Burke’s debt, Kelly said, was forgiven after that. Burke, accused of kidnapping and raping the teen, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Besso said his client, an electrician who has lived in Suffolk County his entire life, acknowledged he spent time with the girl on the boat. But he said much of the district attorney’s case is based on the testimony of a teenager who lacks credibility.

"There was no sexual contact with this individual," Besso told Wilutis.

Prosecutors contend the girl was taken to other locations, including houses in Bellport and Bohemia, the backseat of a car and a detached garage in Islip, where men had sex with her, sometimes in exchange for drugs.