Gilgo Beach Slayings Highlights Violent World Of Prostitution: Expert

LONG ISLAND, NY — The Gilgo Beach slayings bring to light the dangers prostitutes face while navigating their line of work, including an extraordinary amount of violence at the hands of the people who hire them, typically men who fit the same profile as accused serial killer Rex Heuermann.

That's according to former prosecutor Lauren Hersh, who led the sex trafficking unit at the Kings County District Attorney’s office before leaving the courtroom to start World Without Exploitation, which is made up of around 200 anti-sex trade advocacy organizations.

When Hersh learned Heuermann was arrested, “it was not a real surprise that a person with his profile would have been accused of this type of heinous crime,” she told Patch.

Unlike other serial killers, who lived on the fringe of society, Heuermann — so far accused of the slayings of three sex workers — stood out and was recently referred to as an “outlier” in the field due to his status as an architect.

The 59-year-old Massapequa Park resident, reportedly married with two grown children, has been charged with six murder counts in the deaths of three of the Gilgo Four, including Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello, and Megan Waterman. He is the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.

The remains of the four, all sex workers, were found along Ocean Parkway at Gilgo Beach. An additional seven sets of remains, including those of a toddler, and an Asian male, were also found along the strip.

No charges have been lodged in connection with those killings.

The investigation was sparked by the disappearance of another sex worker, Shannan Gilbert, whose remains were found at nearby Oak Beach. Her cause of death was reportedly contested, with a government autopsy ruling it was undetermined and a private one saying she could have been strangled.

Heuermann was linked to the Gilgo Four by a combination of DNA evidence, burner cell phone tracing, and the vehicle he used, law enforcement has said.

His lawyer maintains his innocence.

“I think that there has been a lot of, sort of, chatter about how people are shocked that a person with a good job, and a decent income, and a wife and children would be a suspect in a case like this,” Hersh said. “But the thing that I think most people have not considered, is the fact that he's a sex buyer.”

Prosecutors have described Heuermann in court documents as a prostitution client.

“And so when this was unfolding in 2010, when the bodies were first discovered, my initial instinct was that it was a sex buyer who was the murderer,” she said, adding, “what we find is that sex buyers tend to sort of fit that profile, and while this is obviously an extreme case, of what we recognize is that there is a lot of violence that is at the hands of sex buyers.”

Hersh, who has worked with victims for many years, said that it is common to hear all the time that people in prostitution experience a tremendous amount of violence at the hands of pimps, which is “certainly true.”

That is not where the violence ends.

“When sex buyers come in, when money is exchanged, and then they have the people in prostitution who have very little control over what actually transpires in the room,” she said.

Stigma Haunts Prostitution

Hersh believes the women were selected very deliberately “because so often sex buyers perceive people in prostitution to be disposable and vulnerable and low priority to police.”

A former escort came forward last week to reveal that she had a disturbing “date” with Heuermann in which he raised the subject of the Gilgo Beach slayings. She reportedly did not come forward because she had a felony drug conviction and did not think police would believe her.

“I think that is so important that law enforcement believes victims,” Hersh said. “I don't necessarily know the circumstances of that particular woman’s situation. If she was in prostitution very often, people in prostitution are fearful that if they go to the police, that there will be retribution towards that.”

Hersh thinks that mentality is changing.

“I think that what you're seeing right now is a real shift, that we're recognizing that the vast majority of people in prostitution are not there by choice, but they're because of coercion or lack of options, and are particularly vulnerable,” she said.

“So when we're looking at the situation, we want to make sure that we're holding accountable those who exploit the pimps and the sex buyers, and making sure that people who are sold in the sex trade are given the services that they need and deserve and are taken seriously by police,” she added.

World Without Exploitation works to change laws and policy, but also works very closely with survivor-led organizations. When victims reach out to the organization, staffers connect them with an organization in their particular jurisdiction that provides direct services.

Prostitution, Sex Trafficking Often Intertwined

After Heuermann’s arrest, John Ray, an attorney for the families of some of the victims, questioned whether a sex trafficking ring could be involved in the slayings.

While Hersh couldn't say for sure, she surmised it was “very probable” that at least one of the victims was absorbed into the sex trade and experienced trafficking.

“We know that prostitution and trafficking are not the same, but very often people who are in prostitution have also been trafficked,” she said.

There is a difference between traditional prostitution and sex trafficking.

“I cannot think that prostitution and sex trafficking are one in the same, but they're inextricably intertwined, so you cannot have sex trafficking without prostitution,” Hersh said. “That's why it's so vital that we're talking about those two things together, recognizing they're not the same, but they are intertwined.”

In Prostitution, System 'Preys' On Most Vulnerable

Many people in prostitution land into it because of “significant vulnerabilities,” according to Hersh.

The system of prostitution also “preys” on women and girls of color, many of whom live below the poverty line, LGBTQ plus individuals, who have a prior history of sexual abuse, and also young people who are in the foster care system, Hersh said.

“Prostitution would not happen without the demand for commercial sex buyers, and the sex buyers that are fueling the market,” she said. “So without sex buyers, there would be no prostitution and there would be no sex trafficking.”

Better laws are needed that would decriminalize those people sold in the sex trade, and instead they should be provided with exit strategies and services, Hersh said.

“I think it is very important to hold accountable the pimps, the brothel owners, and the sex buyers for the devastating harm they caused,” she added.

In Part 2 of this series, a survivor of prostitution talks about misconceptions the public might have about the practice.