A BDSM loving New York City lawyer's fetishes have been revealed in court as he is hit with new charges in a horrific assault and prosecutors warn that there may be 'hundreds' more victims.
Ryan Hemphill, 43, who was found not guilty of charges in 2015 of choking and assaulting his then-girlfriend at knifepoint, has been hit with another slew of claims that he allegedly tortured six women in his Manhattan apartment.
Yet, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Mirah Curzer told Judge Ann Scherzer in a statement that they 'have reason to believe these six victims are only the tip of the iceberg'.
The lawyer was arrested on March 1 and accused of using cattle prods, shock collars and waterboarding on six new victims during 'multi-hour ordeals', according to an indictment obtained by the New York Post.
Hemphill has been charged with 24 charges of predatory sexual assault and numerous counts of rape in the first and third degrees, facilitating a sex offense with a controlled substance, and second-degree assault.
He has also been charged with bribing a witness, criminal possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of ammunition and of certain ammunition feeding devices.
'The defendant inflicted enormous suffering and trauma on these six women, raping them repeatedly and torturing them for hours simply because he enjoyed their pain and fear,' Curzer added.
'And then he threatened and intimidated them to make sure they never came forward.'
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Mirah Curzer told Judge Ann Scherzer in a statement that they 'have reason to believe these six victims are only the tip of the iceberg'
The lawyer was arrested on March 1 and accused of using cattle prods, shock collars and waterboarding on six new victims during 'multi-hour ordeals'
Curzer said on Thursday that Hemphill's apartment near the Empire State Building had been fitted with numerous surveillance cameras which were found to have contained images of dozens, if not hundreds, of women.
Many of the women captured on camera were naked and blindfolded, Curzer said.
Prosecution further claimed that Hemphill 'kept [the videotapes] as trophies'.
Hemphill also allegedly threatened the women he had been accused of torturing, and flaunted connections to NYPD law enforcement and mobsters to keep his victims silenced, prosecutors claimed.
Text messages were shown to the court, exposing some of the alleged threatening language Hemphill used against his victims.
'I'm leaving here in five minutes if you're not here I'm gonna f***ing unleash federal hell on you,' a text thread sent on November 30 said. 'You're gonna wish you were f***ing dead.'
Another text thread he allegedly wrote on December 22 said: 'You prostitute. Did you not notice all the police business cards on my f***ing coffee table?'
'I know half the precinct you f***.'
Hemphill also allegedly threatened the women he had been accused of torturing, and flaunted connections to NYPD law enforcement and mobsters to keep his victims silenced
'The defendant inflicted enormous suffering and trauma on these six women, raping them repeatedly and torturing them for hours simply because he enjoyed their pain and fear,' Curzer said
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told members of the media: 'He wielded his law degree and money as both sword and shield, coercing and silencing survivors. The defendant told these survivors he was untouchable.'
'The indictment makes clear that he was wrong.'
Bragg added in a press release that Hemphill had conducted the alleged assault of the six women over just five months.
Hemphill allegedly raped these women orally, vaginally, anally, and often under the threat of torture if they did not comply.
'He forced or tricked them into ingesting various controlled substances that rendered them unconscious or significantly impaired,' the release said. 'He slapped and punched them repeatedly and tied them up with handcuffs and other restraints.'
In one alleged instance, one of his victims was left shackled to his bed for an 'extended period while she begged him to let her go'.
The private executive lawyer also used a cattle prod and shock collar to torture his victims with electricity, as well as threatening them with guns and knives, urinating on them, verbally humiliating them and demeaning them.
Some of his victims were allegedly convinced of divulging their past sexual traumas to Hemphill, who then reenacted the acts described to him.
Many of the women he met through websites such as Seeking.com, SugarDaddy and SugarDaddyMeet, FetLife and Craigslist, offering them 'large sums of money and in exchange for sex and companionship.' Pictured: Fake cash Hemphill allegedly used to 'pay' sex workers and women
Videos of the torture and abuse were also allegedly recorded by Hemphill's extensive number of cameras.
Many of the women he met through websites such as Seeking.com, SugarDaddy and SugarDaddyMeet, FetLife and Craigslist, offering them 'large sums of money and in exchange for sex and companionship.'
'In many cases, he never paid them the agreed-upon amounts, and sometimes he paid them with fake money,' the release said.
Hemphill's alleged intimidation of his victims included flaunting his connections, as well as his status as a lawyer.
In one instance, based on evidence from a victim's cellphone, he allegedly drew up a contract in which he agreed to pay a woman $2,000 in exchange for dropping a complaint she filed with the Manhattan Special Victims Squad.
Others of his victims were allegedly forced to record videos in which they state that they consented to being raped and tortured.
An investigation led to the discovery of large amounts of drugs in his apartment, including heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, and fentanyl.
Investigators also found high-capacity magazines and hundreds of bullets, the press release said.
The private executive lawyer also used a cattle prod and shock collar to torture his victims with electricity, as well as threatening them with guns and knives, urinating on them, verbally humiliating them and demeaning them
An investigation led to the discovery of large amounts of drugs in his apartment, including heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, and fentanyl. Investigators also found high-capacity magazines and hundreds of bullets,
The investigation further found handcuffs, the cattle prod and fake cash that he is believed to have used to 'pay' sex workers.
The Manhattan lawyer had admitted in a trial in 2015, filed by his then-girlfriend, that he enjoyed rough sex and often acted out his fetish fantasies with sex workers and other women.
His then-girlfriend, Christina Leos, claimed that while the pair both enjoyed rough sex, Hemphill crossed the line after he put a 10-inch Bowie knife to her throat in 2013.
'I thought I was going to die,' she said in court, the Post reported.
Hemphill, however, was found not guilty on all charges.
'This was an overcharged case to begin with and the District Attorney's office had little to no evidence,' Hemphill said. 'It should have never gotten to this far.'
Now, Hemphill faces the court again for a number of similarly disturbing charges.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said: 'The details in this case are beyond disturbing - a sustained, calculated campaign of violence and cruelty that targeted vulnerable women. This kind of predatory abuse has no place in our city and will be met with the full force of the law.'
Tisch went on to thank investigators and the Special Victims Division and further thanked Bragg for their 'unwavering commitment to pursuing justice in even the most horrific of cases.'
