Douglas Welch in a photo on his Instagram page of his dog business. (via U.S. Attorney’s Office)
A man nicknamed “Paradise” has been arrested for running what federal prosecutors call a brazen, open-air commercial sex market along a stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, called the “Penn Track.”
An indictment filed in a federal court charges Douglas Welch, 40, with sex trafficking by force, sex trafficking conspiracy, interstate prostitution and promotion of prostitution, authorities said in a news release.
“As alleged, Welch has trafficked multiple women for his own financial benefit while boasting about the cruel and brutal violence he has inflicted on the vulnerable victims,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. “Today’s indictment will hold the defendant accountable in a federal courtroom for his exploitative crimes.”
Welch allegedly recruited women to work on Penn Track and routinely threatened them with physical violence if they disobeyed his orders, officials said.
“If you f— with the pimping, I’m gonna crack your head,” he allegedly told one victim, court documents allege. He allegedly threatened to “slap the s—” out of another victim for not listening to him.
He also bragged about knocking unconscious trafficking victims who disrespected him or other traffickers, prosecutors said. In one case, he grabbed a woman by the throat, knocked her onto the sidewalk and body-slammed her for disrespecting another pimp, officials said in the news release.
Officials released court documents that outlined several calls the suspect allegedly made, demonstrating his alleged use of violence.
In one call on Aug. 31, 2021, the defendant allegedly told someone incarcerated at the time that he had to pay to fix the teeth of a woman who was working because he broke them “by mistake, not knowing my strength.”
“I ended up punching … three of her teeth out … I had to pay to get her teeth fixed and all that s— so,” he said, according to court documents. “That s— cost me cause I lost 30,000, and I spent money fixing her mouth.
“I should’ve punched that b—- in the side of her face … You know why I’m pissed, man? Because I made you move me, I made you get me that mad to do that … That’s pimping.”
In another call, he allegedly talked about punching a woman, Jane Doe 1, saying, “Like b—- just leave me alone and make money … and after all that, I punch you in the face that night … I’ll punch you in your f—— mouth. So as soon as you give me a problem, I’m going in your mouth.”
The defendant also allegedly discussed hitting Jane Doe 1 with a bat after she could not work in prostitution.
On Dec. 1, 2022, he allegedly said he had to “tap” Jane Doe 1 with a “bat” since she would not get ready to go outside and work and to make her have more “respect” for “[his] pimping.” He allegedly said he wanted to leave “a stain on her brain” to make her respect him, court documents said.
He was in custody and was in the process of obtaining an attorney, officials said. The charges carry a penalty of between 15 years to life in prison.
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