Second suspect arrested in case of Long Island teen Emmarae Gervasi found on boat as dad says she was sex-trafficked
Long Island police have arrested and charged a second suspect in connection to the mysterious, month-long disappearance of 14-year-old Emmarae Gervasi, who her father believes was a victim of sex trafficking.
Copiague resident Bunice Knight, 47, was charged with second-degree rape, endangering the welfare of a child and three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance, which court records reveal as cocaine.
Knight is accused of having sex with the teenage girl in his Jervis Avenue home on Jan. 2, according to?Newsday, which reviewed the criminal complaint against Knight.?That was one day before her father, Frank Gervasi, discovered her on a boat at the WhiteCap Marina in Islip after receiving a helpful tip.
Gervasi disappeared from her Patchogue home when she jumped into an unknown car around 5 p.m. on Dec. 9.
Officials used surveillance cameras from nearby homes to identify Knight and make the arrest on Monday.
“What done in the dark will b brought to the light,” Frank Gervasi said on Facebook in response to Knight’s arrest.
During his Tuesday arraignment, Knight pleaded not guilty, while Suffolk County District Court Judge Alonzo Jacobs ordered Knight to stay away from the teen, court records show.
Bail was set at $500,000 cash or $1 million bond, which Knight has since posted, according to court records.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to inquiries.
Knight previously spent over five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to narcotics trafficking charges in 2004, Newsday reported.
Knight’s defense counsel Glenn Obedin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Frank Gervasi had searched every day for his missing daughter, posting video updates to social media and helping search parties that community members had formed.
Gervasi claimed his daughter was the victim of sex trafficking, saying she was “forced to do things that a 14-year-old girl shouldn’t have to do.”
He shared that his daughter had struggled with drug abuse in the past and was wearing an ankle monitor the night she went missing.
“The person who picked her up at my house, he removed the bracelet and, again, unsavory characters did what they did with her and she was already under the influence of drugs,” Gervasi previously told The Post. “She just started wandering aimlessly after that.”
“The type of drugs they’re doing, there’s definitely a link between the drugs and trafficking,” he added. “Heavy drugs that they use [on] these girls to get addicted to traffic them.”
In a Facebook video posted on Jan.4, he said that Emmarae is “in a facility right now getting the help she needs.”
Knight is the second man to be arrested in the missing teen’s case.
Francis Burkheit, 64, was arrested and charged with kidnapping of the teen on Jan. 6.
Burkheit, who owned the boat Emmarae was discovered on, had planned on shipping her down to the Carolinas before his arrest, News 12 reported citing court documents.
Burkheit also pleaded not guilty to his charges.
“There’s a lot more of a story than what’s being told,” Burkheit’s attorney Danielle Papa said after his arraignment.
It was not revealed if the two men knew each other.
