Leader of Danbury-based sex trafficking ring sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison

Jun. 19--Robert King, the leader of a Danbury-based sex trafficking ring that targeted vulnerable young men suffering from addiction and mental illness was sentenced Wednesday to four and a half years in prison.

It was King who trawled drug rehabilitation centers, group homes and the streets for men who were struggling. He would offer help, then ply them with drugs. When they built up an adequate debt to King, he would force them into sexual servitude.

King's victims worked as prostitutes and provided him with a cut of their earnings to cover their debts and the cost of transporting them to meet customers.

King, 53, pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to commit human trafficking and agreed to testify against co-defendant Bruce Bemer in exchange for a sentence of 20 years in prison, suspended after he served four and a half years, and 35 years of probation. The plea offer was from Danbury Superior Court Judge Susan Reynolds. Prosecutor Sharmese Hodge thought the prison term was too low.

King did not end up testifying against Bemer, a Glastonbury businessman who was convicted of being an accessory to human trafficking and four counts of patronizing a trafficked person. He was sentenced on Monday to 10 years in prison, but is free on bail as his lawyers appeal his conviction.

Reynolds said Wednesday that since the time of King's plea, she learned the law has changed and that she could only sentence King to five years of probation. She said she felt compelled to honor the agreement, but was not happy with it.

Hodge told Reynolds 17 victims of King were identified in an investigation by Danbury police and the FBI. Two of the victims have since died. King's focus, Hodge told Reynolds, was to find vulnerable young men and to provide them to Bemer.

Lin Marino of Tolland, whose son Sam was one of King's victims, told the judge King is evil and a monster. Sam Marino suffered greatly as a result of the crimes King committed against him and took his own life, she said.

"Robert King wore a mask of deception -- presenting himself as a good guy," Marino said. "He kept a close watch over our son Sam before Sam committed suicide and Sam was spiraling out of control, but he kept it to himself so he could keep prostituting Sam for his own financial gain. Robert King was his abuser, not his friend, as he pretended to be. Robert King lies easily and often."

King posed as a friend and even attended her son's funeral, Marino said. But it was all a charade.

"When Sam was released from rehab, Robert King was waiting for Sam and soon had him re-addicted so he could keep control over him and traffic him for his own advantage and financial gain," she said.

Marino and her family continue to struggle with the reality of what their son endured, and his death.

"There is only one way to keep society safe from someone like Robert King and that is to incarcerate him for the rest of his life," she said.

When it came his time to speak, King tried to offer excuses and explanations, but the judge said she did not want to hear it.

The third defendant in the case, William Trefzger, 74, of Westport, pleaded guilty to patronizing a trafficked person last year and was sentenced to time served.

David Owens can be reached at dowens@courant.com.

___

(c)2019 The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.)

Visit The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.) at www.courant.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.