City Cop Charged With Prostitution of Runaway Teen

A veteran detective was hit with stunning charges yesterday, accused of pimping out a 13-year-old runaway in Queens, authorities said.

Det. Wayne Taylor, 35, tried to distance himself from the allegations, telling investigators he only drove the teen — and other girls and young women — for his girlfriend’s exotic dancer business, authorities said.

But Taylor told at least one girl — the runaway — to charge customers $40 for oral sex and $80 for intercourse, and to pretend she was 19, District Attorney Richard Brown said.

Later, when the teen didn’t make enough money at her first gig — a sex party at a barbershop — Taylor allegedly threatened to turn her into a streetwalker if she didn’t step up.

The girl was able to escape eventually, return home and report her nearly three-week nightmare to police, Brown said.

Taylor, a 14-year veteran from the Housing Bureau, and Zelika Brown, his girlfriend, were charged yesterday with promoting prostitution, kidnapping, assault and endangering the welfare of a child, in a case that a police source said stunned Internal Affairs investigators.

"This case is every parent and every child’s worst nightmare, made even more frightening by the fact that one of the defendants is a police officer, who swore to uphold the law and protect the community he serves," the district attorney said in a statement. "The case will be vigorously prosecuted."

Attorneys for Taylor and Zelika Brown denied the charges. "It may turn out that there is a great deal of exaggeration in this case," said Randall Unger, Brown’s attorney, after the pair’s arraignment in Queens Criminal Court last night. They both pleaded not guilty and were given $250,000 bail.

The 13-year-old ran away from her Bedford-Stuyvesant home on Jan. 10 and met "Drama," who told her she could make good money dancing at parties, Brown said. He introduced the teen to Brown, 29, who told the girl she had bought her for $500 for her to work as a prostitute, according to the DA’s office. Brown also introduced the teen to Taylor.

The teen performed sex acts with about 20 men for money, according to the DA. Her first job appears to have been at a party in a Queens barbershop, where the teen had sex with various men, the DA’s office said.

Another girl working that party, Krystal Tudy, 18, later told investigators that Brown put her to work and provided security for her and others in Brown’s employ, Richard Brown said.

During the teen’s ordeal, she lived at Brown’s Vaswani Avenue home for about 17 days, Richard Brown said.

It was there, the DA said, that Brown, Tudy and other prostitutes beat her for not making enough money at the barbershop party, with Taylor threatening to put her to work as a streetwalker and warning her that if she tried to flee, she would trip the house alarm.

Brown, who has "Wayne" tattooed on her back, told detectives she was a madam and that Taylor provided security, police sources and Brown said.

The crimes Taylor is accused of occurred off-duty, police said. He had been assigned to the Housing Bureau before recently being placed on modified duty after he was accused of using a department car to drive home after work, sources said.

Now, sources said, he likely faces termination and up to 25 years in prison, the DA’s office said.

Adam Pincus contributed to this story.