Young

VALHALLA – Former New York City cop and martial arts instructor Trent Young, 42, of the Town of Wallkill was sentenced to over 21 years in federal prison for his transportation of three girls across state lines to have sex.  Young had operated a martial arts studio in his Wallkill home as well as one in West Milford, New Jersey, called Iron Tiger Martial Arts.

According to the indictment to which he pled guilty and statements made in court, Young brought a 14-year-old girl from Middletown to his New Jersey business and had sex with her. He brought a second girl, who was 16, to Iron Tiger and had sex with her and in another incident he drove a 14-year-old girl from her home in Brooklyn to his home in the Town of Wallkill and had sex with her.

At the time of his arrest, police said he convinced the girls that having sex was part of their rite of passage as they rose through the martial arts levels. In imposing sentence, US District Court Judge Kenneth Karas said the “extraordinarily high” sentence was appropriate in light of what Young did to the girls he chose as his victims. “The magnitude of the conduct here outweighs the medical issues” faced by Young, said the judge.

Young was sentenced in the prison ward of Westchester Medical Center where he is being treated for terminal cancer.