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'You Did Not Succeed in Destroying Me,' Former Prostitute Tells Pimp

By Eddie Small | September 2, 2016 9:52am | Updated on September 5, 2016 8:15pm
 Shakiem Washington was sentenced to up to 11 years behind bars on Thursday.
Shakiem Washington was sentenced to up to 11 years behind bars on Thursday.
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DNAinfo/Eddie Small

THE BRONX — The man convicted of running a prostitution business with his cousin was sentenced to up to 11 years behind bars on Thursday as his defiant victim told him she is building a new life without him.

Norwood resident Shakiem Washington, 35, was accused of forcing an 18-year-old woman his cousin had met in Atlantic City early in 2011 to work as a prostitute in Hunts Point.

At Washington's sentencing on Thursday, the woman, who asked not to be identified, said she now had a job and a young child and was excited about about her life.

"I want you to know that you did not succeed in destroying me," she said.

However, she did not diminish the damage she had suffered from working for him, noting that she still has trouble sleeping and believing in herself and saying it is difficult for her to leave her house without feeling unsafe and looking over her shoulder.

"For the short amount of time I was forced to work with Shakiem as a sex worker, he made me feel useless in so many ways," she said.

Washington faces between 6 and 1/3 years and 11 years behind bars for sex trafficking and slashing an inmate in the face at Rikers Island. He will have to register as a sex offender as well.

His defense attorney Bruce Klein stressed that the victim had not been with Washington for a long period of time, but this was met with an unsympathetic response from Judge Alvin Yearwood.

"Is that an attempt to minimize his pimping?" he asked.

Washington declined to make a statement at his sentencing. His cousin Daniel Washington was sentenced in June 2015 following guilty pleas to assault and promoting prostitution, according to the Bronx District Attorney's Office.

His victim said she has met other girls who had to deal with Washington as well and hopes that his sentencing will help them stop living their lives in fear.

She was ecstatic that her ordeal with Washington and the court system had come to an end.

"I hope Shakiem does the full 11 years...for what he did to me," she said, "and I hope he never hurts another female."