Crime & Safety

DA: Lindenhurst Man Used Chainsaw to Terrorize Teen, Woman He Forced Into Prostitution

A Lindenhurst man pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, sex trafficking and other charges in a 32-count grand jury indictment unsealed in Suffolk County Criminal Court Thursday, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said. 

Andrew “Andy” Gayot was order held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail, or $1 million bond. Gayot was arrested on Feb. 25 when Suffolk County police and probation officers and the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at 258 North Greene Ave. in Lindenhurst, a house containing several inhabitants. 

Investigators discovered a 15-year-old female, who had run away from home, and a 21-year-old female being held against their will by the defendant, who used intimidation, physical abuse and psychological cruelty to coerce the women into prostitution. 

Gayot advertised the prostitution services on Backpage.com, officials said. The victims have not been identified because both women are the victims of sex crimes. 

 “The details of the terror inflicted on these women are chilling,” Spota said.  “On at least one occasion, the defendant terrorized both victims in the dark basement of the house with a chainsaw, asking the teenager “Now do you believe in the devil?”. 

The teen was forbidden to leave the house unescorted or to use her phone without him being present, Spota said. 

“There is strong evidence Gayot often beat both victims with a hammer and an extension cord, used a Taser in one of his assaults, and choked the teenager when he thought she had shorted him money after meeting a john,” Spota said.

Police said the teen girl had been at the North Greene Avenue home since November of last year; the other female lived there more than a year. Spota said the drugs seized from the premises included Methylone, a club drug known on the street as “Molly”, Xanax and cocaine. 

Mace was also found in the Gayot's room as was a bulletproof vest and police patches, the DA said.  

The top count in the indictment is kidnapping in the second degree, a felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Gayot faces a host of other charges, including counts of sex trafficking, compelling prostitution, promoting prostitution, rape, endangering the welfare of a child and strangulation. 



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