A Bay Shore man arrested for raping a missing Patchogue teen on a yacht docked in Islip now faces sex trafficking charges involving a different victim, as part of an ongoing Suffolk County.
Daniel Soto, 37, is accused of using physical violence, drug dependency, and manipulation to force the victim alluded to in the latest charges into commercial sex acts for his own profit, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said Monday, while announcing Soto’s indictment.
Soto pleaded not guilty Monday to three counts of sex trafficking and two counts of promoting prostitution at an arraignment in Riverhead before acting Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis.
Soto allegedly arranged encounters with Johns and kept all the proceeds, the DA’s office said. When the victim resisted, he would beat her or withhold drugs, exploiting her addiction to maintain control, prosecutors allege.
“This indictment demonstrates our commitment to building comprehensive trafficking cases against predators,” Tierney said.
Sweeping investigation continues
The charges come after Soto was nabbed in a sweeping, multi-agency investigation that began in late 2024 after the teenage girl from Patchogue was reported missing.
(Editor’s note: The original version of this report mistakenly said the latest charges involved crimes against the Patchogue girl.)
The victim, whose case drew national attention and led to a search spearheaded by her father, was ultimately found Jan. 3 aboard a yacht in Islip. She had been missing for nearly four weeks.
More than a dozen people have since been arrested in connection with her alleged abuse and exploitation.
Soto was ordered held on $500,000 cash bail, a $3 million bond, or a $5 million partially secured bond. Soto is also being held at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility on the pending sexual assault charges related to the Patchogue girl’s case. He is due back in court Aug. 13.
Top photo: The Arthur M. Cromarty Court Complex in Riverside, N.Y. (Credit: nvcourts.gov.) Inset: Daniel Soto (Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office).
