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2 LI women charged with sex trafficking in missing girl case

Jacquelyn Comiskey, 52, and Elizabeth Hunter, 34, were arrested Monday and charged with multiple counts in the case of the East Patchogue teen who had been missing for 25 days. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports. Credit: Newsday/James Carbone

Two women have been charged with child sex trafficking after Suffolk prosecutors allege they used a 14-year-old East Patchogue girl — who was missing for 25 days — to obtain drugs and money from men, court records show.

Jacquelyn Comiskey, 52, of Bellport, and Elizabeth Hunter, 34, of Islip, both entered not guilty pleas at their arraignments Tuesday at First District Court in Central Islip.

Seven people have now been arrested in the case on charges ranging from rape and kidnapping to criminal sale of a controlled substance and, now, sex trafficking, court records show. The girl, who Newsday has not named because she is a minor and an alleged victim of a sex crime, had been reported missing from Dec. 9 to Jan. 3, when she was found on a boat in Islip owned by a man accused of kidnapping her, court records show.

Hunter is accused of spending a week in December with the teen on the boat, where she is alleged to have taken nude and sexually explicit photographs of the girl that she used to advertise the teen for sex in exchange for drugs and money, prosecutors said at her arraignment. Comiskey is alleged to have taken the girl to a house in Copiague on Jan. 2, where she traded her for crack cocaine to a man accused of raping her, prosecutors said.

WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND

  • Two women have been charged with child sex trafficking after Suffolk prosecutors allege they used a 14-year-old East Patchogue girl — who was missing for 25 days — to obtain drugs and money from men, court records show.
  • Jacquelyn Comiskey, 52, of Bellport, and Elizabeth Hunter, 34, of Islip, both entered not guilty pleas at their arraignments Tuesday at First District Court in Central Islip.
  • Seven people have now been arrested in the case  on charges ranging from rape and kidnapping to criminal sale of a controlled substance and, now, sex trafficking, court records show.

Prosecutors allege Hunter was with the girl on the 56-foot boat docked at White Cap Marina in Islip from Dec. 13 to Dec. 20. The owner of the boat, Francis Buckheit, was arrested hours after the girl was found under netting covering the hull of the boat, court records show. At his arraignment Jan. 4, prosecutors alleged Buckheit told the teen he intended to "take her to the Carolinas," according to a transcript of the proceeding.

On Jan. 2, hours before the girl was found, police and prosecutors say Comiskey brought her to a house on Jervis Avenue in Copiague.

The Copiague man, Bunice Knight, 47, was arrested Jan. 13 and charged with rape and three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance. He pleaded not guilty the following day and has since been released on $100,000 bond.

District Court Judge Evan Tanenbaum set bail for Hunter and Comiskey at $750,000 cash or $1.5 million bond. They remain in custody at the Suffolk County jail, court records show.

"That's very excessive, in my opinion, very," Hunter's court-appointed attorney, Joseph Hanshe, of Sayville, said. 

In addition to child sex trafficking, Hunter, who prosecutors said has one prior conviction, is also charged with promoting a sexual performance by a child and endangering the welfare of a child. 

Hanshe said his client denies the allegations and they "intend to vigorously defend against [the charges]."

Comiskey's court-appointed attorney, Michael Elbert, of Melville, said his client also "denies the allegations." She is charged with child sex trafficking and endangering the welfare of the child.

Three other men are also charged with rape and kidnapping in relation to the first three days after the girl disappeared. Investigators allege they each held the teen in a place where "she was unlikely to be found" and had sex with her.

Investigators allege Alton Harrell, 35, of Bellport, picked up the teen at 5 p.m. Dec. 10 and held her for 24 hours at a house on Doane Avenue in Bellport, court records show.

She is then alleged to have spent Dec. 10 to Dec. 13 at the Valley Forge Drive home of Daniel Burke, 63, of Bohemia, and a detached garage on Monell Avenue in Islip, where investigators allege she was held by Robert Eccleston, 61, who lives in a residence on the property.

Burke and Buckheit are both facing top charges of first-degree kidnapping, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Harrell and Eccleston are each facing second-degree kidnapping charges, which has a maximum of up to 25 years behind bars.

Buckheit, Burke, Eccleston and Harrell all remain in custody, court records show. Each has denied the allegations against them, their attorneys have said.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney has declined to discuss the specific allegations involved in the case, citing the victim's age.

"I thank God that this child is now safe, but we're going to certainly look into the circumstances behind how she went missing and the responsible parties," Tierney said on Jan. 7.

Prosecutors are expected to unveil indictments against the defendants at a later date.

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