By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — An alleged pimp accused of running a prostitution ring out of his Upper East Side apartment was indicted on sex trafficking, rape and other charges, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Donnell Baines, 37, who lived at East 77th Street and Second Avenue, allegedly used "physical force and threats of violence" to keep his sex trafficking operation running, prosecutors said.
He is accused of raping one woman and beating others in an attempt to control them and keep them working.
Investigators found suggestive photos and and information on their breast sizes and what sex acts they would perform on the job, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said.
Baines pleaded not guilty to the charges in Manhattan Supreme Court at his arraignment on Wednesday.
Prosecutors said he was caught when "a distraught woman" who Baines brought to Manhattan Criminal Court to attend a court appearance of another woman on July 15, reported to a court officer that she was being held against her will.
She said she'd responded to Baines' ad for models on Backpage.com and had been working for him for almost a week when she tried, unsuccessfully, to leave him, prosecutors said.
Baines has a criminal history that includes robbery and assault, according to the DA.
But Baines' attorney, Arnold Levine, said three women he brought to court were exaggerating.
"They went wherever they wanted whenever they wanted," Levine said at the arraignment.
Baines was being held on $750,000 bail Wednesday afternoon.
