Sources familiar with the investigation say the detective aided in selling the teen, who was a runaway, into prostitution.
Eyewitness News is told that the investigation began on January 18, when the girl told her family that she'd met a man who brought her to a house of prostitution somewhere Queens.
The girl was reported missing from her Brooklyn home by her family on January 11. She alleges she was sold to a pimp for $500, and taken around the city to parties when she was forced into prostitution by a man she knew only as "Shawn."
The girl claims she was eventually shuffled among three pimps before managing to escape. Authorities say she returned to her family, who reported the incident to police. The investigation eventually was referred to internal affairs when the girl identified a vehicle that was traced to Detective Taylor.
Police say Taylor joined the force in 1994. He was assigned to the Housing Bureau, and worked in the Bronx and in Queens.
He was arrested in Queens.
A police source tells Eyewitness News that the detective had previously been on modified duty unspecified infractions. The same source referred to Taylor as "a bad, bad guy."
The detective was reportedly arrested during a police stakeout of his house. Sources say he left with two females, one identified as a prostitute and the other a madame. The three were allegedly en route to a party at a Holiday Inn in Queens.
"This case is every parent and every child's worst nightmare, made even more frightening by the fact that one of the defendants is a police officer who swore to uphold the law and protect the community he serves," Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. "The case will be vigorously prosecuted."
Brown said Zelika Brown, of 173-37 Vaswani Avenue in Queens, was also arrested. She and Taylor each face 25 yeras in prison if convicted.
According to the charges, the victim ran away on January 10 and met an individual known as "Drama," who offered to get her into the business of dancing for money at parties.
Thereafter, it is alleged Drama brought the girl to Brown, who later told the victim that she had "purchased" her for $500 to work as a prostitute.
The victim was then allegedly introduced to Taylor, who she was told was Brown's husband.
At the time of her arrest, Brown, who has a tattoo on her back that reads "Wayne," allegedly made statements to police that she was running a prostitution business and that the victim and other women performed sex with men for money. She said Taylor would watch out for her while the girls were prostituting themselves.
In his own statement to police, Taylor allegedly said that he drove Brown, who he claimed ran an exotic dance business, and that he routinely drove the dancers around to parties.
