Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 26-year-old Prospect Park South man has been charged in two separate indictments in connection with catfishing three teenage girls into a fake “sex for money” scheme on Facebook, videotaping himself having sex with them and threatening to post the videos online if they didn’t continue to be intimate with him.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant is allegedly a sexual predator who targeted vulnerable young girls in a cruel scheme. Parents and social media users should be aware that there are many predators trolling the internet for victims, who are then preyed upon, and should always closely monitor online activity.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Phyllip Bertrand, aka Coolen Jay, aka Teddy, 26, of Prospect Park South, Brooklyn. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an indictment in which he is charged with five counts of second-degree rape, five counts of third-degree rape, five counts of sexual misconduct, and endangering the welfare of a child. Last month he was arraigned on an indictment in which he is charged with two counts of first-degree rape, seven counts of third-degree rape, seven counts of sexual misconduct, three counts of use of a child in a sexual performance, five counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child, two counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child, four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, five counts of third-degree criminal sexual act, first- and second-degree coercion, three counts of use of a child in a sexual performance as a sexually motivated felony, and five counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child as a sexually motivated felony. He is being held on bail of $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash on the earlier indictment. Justice Chun set an additional bail of $100,000 bond or $50,000 cash at today’s arraignment.
The District Attorney said that the defendant allegedly approached multiple teenage girls on Facebook, pretending to be someone known as “Coolen Jay” and said they could make thousands of dollars (in one instance up to $20,000) by having sex with his friend, “Teddy.” The investigation revealed that “Teddy” and “Coolen Jay” were aliases for the defendant.
The first victim, a 15-year-old girl, agreed to have sex with “Teddy” for money on multiple occasions, beginning in April 2017, but when she asked to be paid she was promised she would get the money at a later date. By September 2017 she complained that she hadn’t received any money and stopped visiting “Teddy.” The defendant, who had allegedly been texting the victim using both personas, “Coolen Jay” and “Teddy,” then allegedly posted a video of her having sex with him online, which was sent to several of her school mates. He also allegedly posted it to a porn website. She was notified by the principal of her school and police were called.
Upon further investigation, including a review of the defendant’s social media, it is alleged, two additional victims of the same type of scheme were identified, a 15-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl, both of whom were lured by “Coolen Jay” to have sex with “Teddy” in exchange for cash. Neither girl was ever paid.
