Police say Amherst man was sex trafficking minors

AMHERST, N.Y. (WIVB) - Federal authorities have charged an Amherst man with the sex trafficking of minors. The defendant is accused of promoting and profiting from the prostitution of under-age girls.

The U.S. Attorney's Office has taken down a pimp who, they say, has been preying on teenaged girls in and around Buffalo. Twenty-four-year-old Kenneth Graham is charged with the sex trafficking of a 16-year-old, a 17-year-old, and a woman in her 20s. Authorities say he began trafficking one the younger women when she was just 15.

News 4 has obtained a copy of the criminal complaint against Graham, and it lays out some chilling details, in the women's own words. Graham's victims describe a violent and jealous man, cloaked by a charming exterior.

MORE | Read the criminal complaint for yourself right here

Graham started out dating the older woman and one of teens - taking them out to dinner, inviting them to live with him at his Amherst apartment, treating them like girlfriends.

Graham would post internet ads on Backpage.com for the women's services, and put them up in local hotels - including the Red Roof Inn and Comfort Inn University in Amherst and the Millennium Hotel in Cheektowaga. Clients paid hundreds of dollars, and Graham would routinely keep more 50 or 75 percent of the money.

Both of Graham's former girlfriends say Graham would become physically abusive, when they refused to turn tricks for him. If they left, he'd hunt down their hiding places.

One of the teenage victims told federal agents that Graham kidnapped her, held her against her will at his apartment for nearly a week, and would beat her about her face and throat, every time she tried to escape.

In the criminal complaint against Graham, she goes on to say he would "grab... her hair, throw... her onto the bed, pin... her down... choking and punching her."

She and Graham were both arrested August 20 at a hotel on Genesee Street in Cheektowaga, where undercover officer had made a "date" with the girl.

Graham has a long history of arrests, including ten felonies and an outstanding warrant in Georgia. Authorities say he had been sex trafficking the women for the past two years.

Graham has a September 6 court date; prosecutors tell us they won't comment further until then. If Graham is convicted, he will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in jail and could be sent to prison for life.