Private equity executive charged in 'grotesque' sex case: 'Tip of the iceberg'

NEW YORK CITY -- A wealthy New York City private equity executive raped and tortured at least six women over a five-month period and prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney's office said Thursday they fear those women are only the "tip of the iceberg."

Ryan Hemphill was charged in a 116-count indictment with multiple counts of predatory sexual assault, rape and other offenses that accused him of subjecting women to a "multi-hour ordeal of grotesque physical and sexual violence," including electric torture with shock collars and cattle prods, psychological torture and forcing women to ingest various controlled substances.

Hemphill has been incarcerated since March 3, but the indictment was unsealed Thursday as Hemphill appeared in court in shackles and a beige smock to plead not guilty.

His attorney said he is no flight risk, but Judge Anne Scherzer remanded him without bail, as prosecutors requested.

"The conduct in this indictment is truly shocking to the conscience," assistant district attorney Mirah Curzer said.

Curzer said Hemphill met his victims on websites like Seeking, Sugardaddy and Craigslist, forced or tricked some of them to ingest various controlled substances and made some of his victims confess their past sexual traumas so he could purposefully reenact them.

"He enjoyed their pain and fear," Curzer said.

Prosecutors said investigators found the defendant's apartment "full of cameras" and some of the images depicted women who were waterboarded with duct tape wrapped around their heads and faces. "He kept the videos as trophies," Curzer said.

Prosecutors also said detectives recovered video footage that suggests there may be dozens, if not hundreds, of women who were victimized. "We have reason to believe there may be additional victims," District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

Hemphill allegedly told women he was "untouchable" because of law enforcement and organized crime connections, but Bragg said there's no evidence he had either.

"He told them he had deep connections that made him untouchable," Bragg said. "Clearly, he was wrong." Bragg said Hemphill demonstrated a "consistent, salient theme" -- subjecting women to hours of sexual violence.