Unbeknownst to the neighbors around Porpoise Drive, Raymond Bryan, 39, was
operating a prostitution ring with his companion, Eva Gross, 39, and his
occasional girlfriend, Pamela Silver, 32, Suffolk County police say.
All three lived in the home, with Bryan and Gross' 14- and 15-year-old
daughters, and advertised their own services online via Craigslist. Their
advertisement offered sexual favors, but "no full contact," according to
police, for "150 to 225 roses."
"That, obviously, is dollars," Sixth Precinct Inspector Frank Stallone said. He
said the business had been operating since September.
"I'm mortified," said one neighbor, who asked only to be identified by her
first name, Frances. "Everybody's in shock here."
After receiving a tip, Sixth Precinct Crime Section officers began a
three-month investigation. The information was confirmed through the online
advertisement, from witnesses and surveillance, police said.
On Wednesday, the Sixth Precinct officers, the Emergency Services Section, and
Computer Crimes Section detectives executed a search warrant at the home. Bryan
was charged with promoting prostitution, and Silver with two counts of
prostitution. They and Gross also were charged with endangering the welfare of
a child.
Police said Silver and Gross were released Wednesday night on station house
bail. Bryan pleaded not guilty Thursday and was held on $100,000 bail.
Stallone called the case "particularly egregious," because of the location near
schools and residences.
He said that "on a good day" five or six men would visit the home.
The trio's business may have brought in as nuch as $20,000, though no exact
figure had been confirmed, and Bryan was looking to expand the business at the
time of the arrests, police said.
Frances said that although the neighbors had no indication that prostitution
had been taking place, the family had been considered something of a nuisance
because their property was disheveled: furniture left in front of a garage;
holiday decorations never removed from trees; trash left scattered.
She said the family mostly kept to themselves.
"I'm very surprised," she said. "They never kept the house very clean ... but
we never thought anything like this."
