Ralph Knowles, 63, Rebecca Browell, 48, both of Brentwood, charged in East Patchogue missing girl case

Suffolk police on Thursday charged two more people in connection with the 25-day disappearance of a 14-year-old East Patchogue girl who authorities say was kidnapped, raped and sex-trafficked before she was found aboard a 56-foot luxury boat docked at White Cap Marina in Islip in January.

Ralph Knowles, 63, of Brentwood, pleaded not guilty to attempted rape in the second degree, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child in First District Court in Central Islip. He was also charged with multiple counts of heroin and cocaine possession with intent to distribute.

Prosecutors say Knowles, a carpenter with a violent criminal record, gave the girl crack cocaine on numerous occasions while she was being held on the boat.

Knowles, who has three prior felony convictions for drug possession and attempted robbery, visited the girl while she was being held between Dec. 13 and Jan. 3, Suffolk prosecutors say.

Aside from forcibly touching the girl, he "made degrading comments to her, pushing her down on a couch and asking her to perform oral sex, to which she said ‘no,’ " Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Anthony Roman-Lann told Supreme Court Justice Bernard Cheng.

Police based their investigation and arrest on statements the teen gave investigators, according to court records

"There’s more to the story than is going on here," Knowles' attorney, Chase Brown, said. "We look forward to discovery to find out the merit, if any, to these allegations."

Rebecca Browell, 48, who lives at the same Brentwood address as Knowles, was also arrested in connection to the case. She was arrested after selling illegal drugs to an undercover officer, prosecutors said in court. A search of the home she shares with Knowles yielded cocaine, fentanyl and heroin as well as digital scales and packaging material consistent with drug sales, Roman-Lann told the court.

Prosecutors said in court papers that she was providing drugs to the girl and knew the teen was underage and having sex with adult men. Browell pleaded not guilty.

Both Knowles and Browell are being held on $100,000 cash bail. Their next court appearance is Feb. 10.

So far, 11 people have been charged in the case of the teen, whose disappearance made national headlines.

The girl, whom Newsday is not identifying because she is a minor and the alleged victim of a sexual crime, went missing Dec. 9. Investigators told Newsday the teen had been held at four different locations since she went missing — never farther than 25 miles from her home.

Francis Buckheit, 64, of East Islip, who owns the boat where she was found, was the first to be arrested on charges that he kidnapped and raped the girl. He told investigators that he intended to take the teen to the Carolinas, according to a transcript of his Jan. 4 arraignment. He has denied the allegations.

Two women, Jacquelyn Comiskey, 52, of Bellport, and Elizabeth Hunter, 34, of Islip, were charged with child sex trafficking in connection to the girl’s disappearance. They both pleaded not guilty.

Hunter is accused of taking sexually explicit photos of the girl to advertise the teen for sex in exchange for money and drugs.

Prosecutors say Comiskey took the girl to a house in Copiague where she traded the teen to a man for crack cocaine. The man, Bunice Knight, 47, was also charged with rape. He pleaded not guilty.

Alton Harrell, 35, of Bellport, Daniel Burke, 63, of Bohemia, and Robert Eccleston, 61, of Islip, were charged with kidnapping and raping the girl during the first three days of her disappearance, according to authorities.

Kevin McDonald, 20, of Medford, allegedly raped the girl in the back seat of a car on Dec. 10, prosecutors say. He was also charged with endangering the welfare of a minor. He has denied the allegations.

After the girl was rescued, prosecutors say she was victimized once again, this time by an employee of a state-run children’s mental health facility where she was receiving treatment.

Deshaun McClean, 42, of Deer Park, pleaded not guilty at his Feb. 5 arraignment to two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a person incapable of consent and endangering the welfare of a child, all misdemeanors.

With Grant Parpan