Lawyer Is Charged With Sadistic Rapes of Women He Met Online

A lawyer with a background in private equity lured women he met online to his apartment near the Empire State Building, prosecutors said.There, they say, he raped, drugged and tortured them for hours, sometimes using a shock collar and a cattle prod.When he was done, prosecutors said, he threatened the women to keep them from reporting the violent encounters.The attorney, Ryan Hemphill, was arraigned on Thursday afternoon in Manhattan Criminal Court on a 116-count indictment accusing him of sexually assaulting six woman over five months, though prosecutors said there could be scores of additional victims.Mr.

Hemphill, 43, was escorted into the Manhattan courtroom on Thursday afternoon in handcuffs.He wore a cross necklace and matching bracelet and sat quietly beside his lawyer, Caroline Ng from the Legal Aid Society.Mr.

Hemphill pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail.Ms.

Ng could not immediately be reached for comment.Alvin J.Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, said after the arraignment that Mr.

Hemphill tried to make his victims feel powerless.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....