Hero father rescues daughter, 14, from month-long 'sex-trafficking' hell in Taken-style plot, as 65-year-old arrested
7 January 2025, 13:03
A father rescued his teenage daughter after she was kidnapped and pressed into sexual captivity, he said.
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Frank Gervasi tracked his daughter Emmarae down to a yacht a month after she disappeared when she got into a car outside her home in Long Island, in New York state.
Emmarae, 14, is said to have gone off with an older man whom she met online on December 9, before being dropped off and taken by a "random" stranger".
Mr Gervasi received an anonymous tip that Emmarae, 14, was being held on the boat before going in and rescuing her, with police following behind.
He added that the lady who gave me the tip was afraid to go onto the yacht.
Mr Gervasi said that he had been through "26 days of hell" while searching for his daughter.
After rescuing her, he added: “It was a gift from God. I can't describe the feeling I had when I grabbed her."
Mr Gervasi said: “Emma was being held against her will. She was not allowed to leave the boat unless she was escorted by somebody,.
“So I do believe this is sex trafficking, and it’s being looked into.”
Before he found her, Mr Gervasi had already said that he thought she was "being held against her will".
He added: "I know she is with somebody and they are either convincing her to stay or won’t let her leave or worse she may be dead by now."
Mr Gervasi said that his daughter was "forced to do things that a 14-year-old shouldn’t have to do.”
He said that after being rescued.she was doing well under the circumstances.
A 65-year-old man has been charged with rape, kidnapping and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
