Ishi Woney is accused of pimping out missing Pennsylvania woman Corinna Slusser. Woney, 23, was charged in a Manhattan federal court on November 1 with sexually exploiting two women. One of those women is 20-year-old Corinna Slusser. Slusser has been missing since September 2017. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said, “Woney engaged in a vile form of exploitation, using force and other coercion to compel young women to engage in paid sex for his enrichment.”
The documents in the case say that Woney is accused of pimping out two women in the Bronx, using paid for online ads that featured Slusser and another victim, who has not been identified.
Slusser arrived in New York City during the summer of 2017. She was last seen at the Haven Motel on Woodhaven Boulevard in Rego Park, Queens, on September 20, 2017. A month earlier, in August 2017, Slusser had filed a police report saying that her “pimp” had beaten her up in Harlem. Slusser received an order of protection against her pimp in the case. The man named in that order of protection was not Ishi Woney but was Yhovanny Peguero. That order was mailed to Slusser’s mother’s home. When Slusser’s mother contacted the NYPD about the order, Slusser downplayed the incident.
Between August and September, Woney and Slusser’s relationship had continued despite the order of protection. This upset the other victim in the case. That’s when, the documents say, Slusser moved from an apartment in the Bronx that she shared with Woney and the other victim, to the motel in Rego Park. Authorities say that between September 10 and September 20, Woney and Slusser exchanged 803 text messages.
Slusser remains a missing person. If you have any information about her whereabouts, please call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or go to tips.fbi.gov. Alternatively, contact Det. Georgia Lessey of the NYPD at 718-363-7762.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Slusser’s Mother Says She Hopes Ishi Woney’s Arrest ‘Leads to Other Things’
Slusser’s mother, Sabina Tuorto, told the New York Post, “I hope this [arrest] leads to other things. I want my daughter found.” Slusser was reported missing in Bloomsberg, Pennsylvania, on September 12, 2017, when she did not attend her grandfather’s funeral in Florida. NBC News reported in November 2017 that Slusser told her mother she couldn’t travel for the funeral because she lost her I.D. and social security card. Slusser did say that she would return home to Pennsylvania, but she never did.
An NYPD source told the New York Daily News in November 2017, “(Detectives) believe that she is out of New York State. There is no indication she is subject to foul play.” The same article said that “cops suspect Corinna Slusser is still alive.” The Daily News also reports that Slusser left her home in Pennsylvania to be with her pimp who she refers to as “Daddy.”
2. Less Than a Year Before Her Disappearance, Slusser Had Wanted to Move to Massachusetts, Leading to a Fight With Her Mother
Facebook/Corinna Slusser
NBC News reported in November 2017 that in 2016, Slusser had fought with her mother regularly and wanted to move to Massachusetts as a result. Slusser wanted to move in with her uncle’s ex-wife, Julie Anne Becker-Calfa. Becker-Calfa told the network that Slusser had spent every summer with her in Massachusetts. The move was set to happen until Becker-Calfa said she found out her niece had “gotten up to no good during the summer, without me knowing it.” At that point, Slusser went to live instead with friends in Pennsylvania.
Becker-Calfa talked about the circumstances of Slusser’s move to New York. Slusser apparently told her mother that a friend had offered a place to stay in the city. Becker-Calfa told NBC News that she left all of her belongings beside her I.D. and cellphone behind when she moved. Becker-Calfa said, “From that point on – for the next month or so – she was in New York, but she was in contact with her mom and friends almost every day. She seemed to be doing fine.” Eventually, Becker-Calfa said, she believes Slusser was lured into prostituion after living a party-lifestyle in New York for a time. The family now believes that Slusser is stuck in a sex trafficking ring.
3. Woney Could Face Life in Prison
The penalty for Woney if he is found guilty, could be anywhere between five years to life and prison. Woney is accused of the use of an interstate facility to promote, manage, and carry on prostitution, sex trafficking by means of force, threats, fraud and coercion, and with violating the Mann Act. Woney is also accused of transporting the other victim in the case across state lines for the purposes of prostitution. The FBI’s Assistant-Director, William F. Sweeny Jr., said in announcing Woney’s arrest, “Human trafficking is a top priority for the FBI, and, as today’s charges demonstrate, we will continue to aggressively pursue justice for the victims of these heinous crimes.”
VSCO/Corinne Slusser
The documents say that Woney was arrested first in November 2017 when NYPD cops posed as johns at a motel in New Jersey. Woney and the other victim in the case were questioned about Slusser’s disappearance. Woney was arrested again in February this year when officers say cops were called to a Jersey City motel after Woney was accused of beating up the other victim. Woney also charged with simple drug possession. The victim later refused to press charges in the case. Another sting was set up by the NYPD in October 2018. Cops arranged to meet the female victim in a motel in the Bronx for sex in exchange for $200. After that arrest, the victim told cops about Woney’s role as a pimp, the documents say.
You can read the full criminal complaint here:
4. Slusser’s Most Recent Instagram Post Showed a Man Smoking a Marijuana Blunt on the Street
The above image is Slusser’s most recent Instagram post. The caption reads, “cyphin mid day mid road is always good for the soul.” Cyphin’ is a term used to describe passing a blunt of marijuana around in a circle. In her bio section, Slusser promotes her work as an aspiring make-up artist as well as information about her Twitter page. In her Twitter bio, Slusser writes, “doin whatever tf I want.” Both the last Instagram post and her Twitter page give her location as the Bronx.
My first apartment all to myself in NYC!!! Never been more happier in my life. Forver dream accomplished 🙌🏼
One of the final tweets on the Twitter page sees Slusser celebrating her first New York apartment, which is located on Grand Concourse in the Bronx.
According to her Facebook page, Slusser was studying as a Business Management student at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Slusser says on that page that she was living in Bloomsburg at the time of her disappearance and is originally from Lewisburg. Slusser had been a cheerleader in high school. NBC News reports that Slusser left high school, one credit short of graduating.
5. Slusser’s Mother Has Said About Her Daughter’s Disappearance, ‘The Sadness in My Heart Is Beyond Words’
Facebook/Sabina Tuorto
Corinna Slusser turned 20 years old on October 6. On that day, Sabina Tuorto wrote on her Facebook page, “Happy Birthday Corinna. I love you very much and I miss you very much.” Two months earlier, Tuorto wrote on her page, “Missing my beautiful girl so much… the sadness in my heart is beyond words. I wish I could be where she is, that’s where I want to be. She is my reason to breathe. inhale and exhale trying to keep the faith as I wish for her to be found safely and alive. It’s been a year almost and ppl seem to forget about her but I think about her nonstop and I will never let this to rest until her and I are reunited again! My heart aches everyday! I need closure today! I need answers soon! Corinna Paige Slusser you are never forgotten!” Around the time that Slusser first disappeared, Tuorto wrote on Facebook, “I can’t bear any more days like this. I fear the word, but I pray for the best and her to return home. (I’m) waiting for an angel to hear my prayer.”
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