Men charged in escort's kidnap, rape

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NEW YORK, March 1 (UPI) -- Two New York men kidnapped an escort and forced her to have sex with multiple men before she escaped by jumping from a sixth-floor window, officials say.

Benjamin Gaston, 35, and Johnny Jackson, 53, have pleaded not guilty in the incident, the New York Post reported Friday.

Gaston took the woman's cell phone, money and identification when she went to an escort job at an Upper West Side apartment in November, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. told a Manhattan Supreme Court,

When the woman protested, Gaston held a pillow to her face, prosecutors said.

The next night, Gaston took her to an apartment in Harlem occupied by Jackson where several men were waiting to have sex with her, prosecutors said.

The woman used her jacket as a rope to climb out a window. She fell to the ground, breaking both legs and her back.

Police said Jackson told them his only involvement was lending his apartment to Gaston for prostitution.