New York Lawyer Accused of Raping and Torturing Multiple Women in Manhattan Apartment

Ryan Hemphill is accused of using his wealth and power as a weapon to meet women online, before beating and drugging his alleged victims

Ryan Hemphill, a 43-year-old attorney and former private equity executive, has been charged with 116 criminal counts, including predatory sexual assault, rape, and physical assault, in connection with the alleged drugging, torture, and rape of at least six women over a five-month period in his New York apartment.

According to prosecutors, Hemphill used his wealth, influence, and position as a "sugar daddy" to lure women through online platforms, offering them large sums of money in exchange for companionship and sex. Once they were in his Manhattan apartment near the Empire State Building, he allegedly subjected them to hours of physical and sexual violence. Authorities say Hemphill used weapons such as guns, knives, a cattle prod, and a shock collar to intimidate and control his victims.

Ryan Hemphill is charged with 116 crimes, including predatory sexual assault, rape, and assault

The New York District Attorney’s Office revealed that Hemphill frequently demanded his victims recount past sexual traumas before reenacting them, sometimes while recording the assaults. A search of his apartment yielded high-capacity ammunition magazines, hundreds of bullets, handcuffs, large quantities of drugs, counterfeit cash, and a surveillance system containing footage of dozens of women. Prosecutors believe many of these women may also be survivors of assault.

Authorities who searched his apartment found a number of items including handcuffs, fake case and a cattle prod

District Attorney Alvin Bragg described Hemphill’s actions as calculated, stating that the accused claimed to be untouchable and boasted of high-level legal and political connections. In some cases, Hemphill allegedly threatened his victims with arrest after they accepted his money, and in others, coerced them into recording false consent videos in exchange for promised—often unpaid—payments.

Hemphill is also accused of attempting to pay off at least one woman with $2,000 to withdraw a police complaint. In court, Judge Ann E. Scherzer denied him bail, citing the severity of the evidence and his willingness to go to extreme lengths to avoid prosecution.

Alvin Bragg, the New York district attorney, described the alleged crimes as involving ‘hours of physical and sexual violence’

This is not Hemphill’s first brush with the law. In 2015, he was acquitted after being accused of choking and threatening a former partner with a knife. During that trial, he admitted to choking her during sex.

A Hofstra University graduate with degrees in drama and philosophy, Hemphill later attended law school and established Madison Park Capital Advisors in 2013. If convicted of the current charges, he faces life imprisonment.