Two Brooklyn men face numerous charges for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl

August 1, 2023 Rob Abruzzese

District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced the sentencing of Gershon Kranczer, who was extradited from Israel to face justice for the sexual abuse of three young relatives.
Photo: Rob Abruzzese/Brooklyn Eagle

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District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced on Tuesday that two middle-aged men are facing a raft of charges following a harrowing case of sexual exploitation involving a 13-year-old girl. The men have been arraigned on a 57-count indictment, with charges that include sex trafficking of a child, promoting prostitution, rape and other related offenses.

“This is an incredibly disturbing case in which two middle-aged men are accused of exploiting a vulnerable child for their own gratification,” said District Attorney Gonzalez. “I am committed to protecting our children from sexual exploitation and will now seek to bring the defendants to justice.”

The defendants, Kal Kirby, 43, from East Flatbush, and Jordan Shephard Burnham, 44, from Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, are both facing severe charges.

Kirby’s charges include sex trafficking of a child, promoting prostitution across state lines in the fourth degree, rape in the second and third degrees, endangering the welfare of a child, using a child in a sexual performance, and unlawfully disclosing an intimate image. Burnham’s charges include rape in the second and third degrees, endangering the welfare of a child, promoting a sexual performance by a child, and aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution.

Burnham was apprehended in Oak Bluffs, Mass. on July 20, 2023, and was returned to New York five days later. His arraignment occurred on Monday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Donald Leo, who set bail at $2 million bond or $1 million cash. The case will continue on August 24.

Kirby was also arraigned on July 20, before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Rhonda Tomlinson. He has been ordered to remain in custody without bail, pending his next court appearance on August 24.

The case hinges on a string of incidents that began in February 2022, when the young victim started communicating with Kirby on a social networking app called “Monkey” and then on Instagram. They eventually met in person and began to see each other on a weekly basis.

According to the charges, Kirby facilitated the victim’s sexual exploitation by other men on at least one occasion. In another alleged incident, Kirby sent intimate images of the victim to Burnham and arranged for him to engage in sexual intercourse with her.

Burnham and the victim reportedly engaged in sexual intercourse three times between November and December 2022. He allegedly provided her with gifts and money in exchange for these encounters.

The situation was finally brought to light in late December 2022, when the victim disclosed the situation to her foster mother, who then notified the police.