LEWISTON — An Auburn man appeared in court Monday after he was arrested Sunday on a warrant from Connecticut, where he was charged with promoting prostitution for having taken a 17-year-old girl from New York to Connecticut to work as a prostitute.

Rayshawn Stokely, 26, of 714 Washington St. was arrested at 55 Mill St. in Auburn and charged with being a fugitive from justice. He waived extradition to Connecticut in 8th District Court.

Justice Rick Lawrence told Stokely he should be returned to that state in “fairly short order” and ordered him held without bail at Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn.

Police stopped a car with Connecticut license plates that Stokely was driving for failing to signal a left turn. When officers discovered Stokely was wanted on a warrant from Connecticut, he was arrested and taken to jail.

Court records show a Norwich, Conn., Police Department patrol officer applied for an arrest warrant for Stokely in September after learning he and a woman named Brittany White had driven the 17-year-old girl from New York to Norwich. The victim, from Albany, N.Y., knew Stokely only by the name “Young,” she said.

Stokely had told her he was from Maine and had been recently arrested at the Mohegan Sun Casino, she said. During that arrest, Stokely had provided his Maine address. A computer check showed that Stokely used the name “Youngin” as an alias, according to an affidavit written by Officer Julie St. Jean.

The victim told St. Jean she had been walking in town when she was approached by a woman who invited her to an “underground club-style party.” The victim said she went to a party in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where she smoked marijuana and drank alcohol. She said she met “Young” at the party, who reportedly said he knew she was in a “tough place” and told her she could make money for them.

The victim believed she would have to sell drugs, but Stokely reportedly said she would have to sell sex. The victim said she didn’t realize what was going to happen because she was drunk and “stoned.”

She left the party with a group and continued to smoke and drink, she told St. Jean. She slept in a hotel room overnight, believing she was alone. Though she had gone to sleep clothed, she awoke the next morning naked, she said.

Stokely entered the room with a key card and told her to get dressed. They ate breakfast and Stokely said she would be going with him. When she asked where they were going, he told her not to ask questions, she said. They got into a car that a woman was driving.

According to the victim, they picked up drugs in Queens, N.Y., and drove to Norwich.

When they arrived at a home in Norwich, Stokely reportedly told the victim she would have to “start practicing.”

“You better make me some good money and you better not snitch me out,” Stokely told her, according to the victim.

She was told to sleep on a couch in the living room.

The next day, Stokely and a friend reportedly took pictures of her dressed only in underpants so they could place an ad on Backpage, where she was given the working name, “Jasmine.”

The victim said she was told she would meet customers at Mohegan Sun hotel for sex, and White gave her a dress to wear. She and White went to a doughnut shop at the casino and made contact with two men, according to the victim.

The victim went to the hotel with White, who reportedly collected $300 from one of the men. The victim said she had sex with the man in his hotel room while White waited in the bathroom.

Back at the house, Stokely and White went out. The victim said she was told to stay put and that they had people watching the house. Later, she was reportedly told to have oral sex and intercourse with two boys at the house while Stokely watched.

White took her back to the casino hotel, where a customer ended up sexually assaulting her in his hotel room after paying White $100 for oral sex, she said.

The victim broke down several times while describing the events and pointed out the location of the house where she stayed.

Casino surveillance video showed the victim with White and the second customer from the hotel, who was later identified as a gaming authority official from Canada, according to St. Jean’s affidavit.

The victim had told a neighbor about the sexual assault, who confronted White. White later allowed the victim to leave.

White was arrested and charged with two counts of promoting prostitution and signed a statement corroborating the victim’s account. Stokely denied being involved with the victim.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link