WARNING: This story contains graphic details that may be disturbing to some readers.
A private equity executive used a New York City apartment as a torture chamber where he raped, punched, shackled and used a cattle prod in a series of depraved acts involving six women, Manhattan prosecutors said Thursday.
Ryan Hemphill, 43, has pleaded not guilty a 116-count indictment charging him with predatory sexual assault and other crimes dating back to last October. He faces life in prison.
To conceal his crimes, Hemphill, who is also a lawyer, threatened to have the women arrested or killed by falsely claiming to have vast resources and connections to police and organized crime, prosecutors said.
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“The details in this case are beyond disturbing — a sustained, calculated campaign of violence and cruelty that targeted vulnerable women. This kind of predatory abuse has no place in our city and will be met with the full force of the law,” New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said in a statement announcing the charges.
Hemphill met many of the victims on dating websites like Seeking.com (formerly known as Seeking Arrangements), SugarDaddy and SugarDaddyMeet, FetLife and Craigslist, where he offered them money for sex and companionship, authorities said, adding that he sometimes paid them with counterfeit money.
Hemphill’s apartment had multiple surveillance cameras, and investigators have recovered images showing dozens, if not hundreds, of other women, many of them naked and blindfolded, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Mirah Curzer told Judge Ann Scherzer during a Thursday hearing where Hemphill was present.
Investigators also found hundreds of bullets and high-capacity magazines, and a large amount of drugs, including heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, and fentanyl, prosecutors said.
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As Hemphill got to know the women, he allegedly convinced them to confide their past sexual traumas, which he then deliberately reenacted as he assaulted them, Curzer said.
He forced or tricked them into ingesting various drugs that rendered them unconscious or significantly impaired, prosecutors said. In addition, he also slapped and punched them repeatedly and tied them up with handcuffs and other restraints.
In one incident, one of the victims was left shackled to Hemphill’s bed as she begged him to let her go.
Hemphill also used a cattle prod, an instrument meant for livestock, and a shock collar that he forced some women to wear around their necks, including while he raped them. He also allegedly tortured them psychologically by threatening them with guns and knives, urinating on them, and verbally humiliating and demeaning them.
Some victims were allegedly forced to record videos in which they stated that they consented to being raped and tortured, which Hemphill allegedly used to convince them that they wouldn’t be believed if they reported him.
Scherzer ordered Hemphill to remain jailed after prosecutors raised concerns about him possibly fleeing the country, citing his wealth and connections — including a history of philanthropy and family real estate holdings.
Hemphill’s alleged behavior, the judge said, “shows his extent to which he’s willing to go to protect himself from facing these charges.”
Fox News Digital has tried reaching out to Hemphill.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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