A New York City private equity attorney was accused of drugging, restraining and beating six women — including savage attacks with shock collars and cattle prods intended for livestock — in a bombshell indictment filed in Manhattan on Thursday.
The charges were unveiled against Ryan Hemphill, 43, in Manhattan Supreme Court, where he was arraigned on a 116-count indictment including charges of predatory sexual assault, rape, bribery, unlawful possession of ammunition and a host of other offenses. He pleaded not guilty.
At a press conference, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said investigators found surveillance cameras and memory cards at Hemphill’s Midtown apartment that turned up videos of “dozens, if not hundreds” of different women he victimized between October 2024 and last month. Also recovered were high-capacity magazines, hundreds of bullets, heroin, cocaine, amphetamines and fentanyl, according to court docs.
He targeted women, offering them large sums of money for sex and companionship, on sites including Seeking.com, formerly known as Seeking Arrangements, SugarDaddy and SugarDaddyMeet, FetLife, and Craigslist, according to court papers, which say he sometimes withheld payments or paid fake currency.
The DA said prosecutors believe there are more victims they haven’t spoken to.
“The power imbalance in his predatory acts could not be more clear. He wielded his law degree and money as both sword and shield, coercing and silencing survivors. The defendant told them that because they had accepted money in many cases for sexual acts, it was them who would be arrested if they came forward,” Bragg said.
“He impressed upon them that going to the authorities would be futile and that he would never be held accountable. He told them that no one would ever believe them. Clearly, he was wrong.”
Hemphill, who was arrested on March 1, tortured his victims for hours, telling them he was “untouchable” because of his considerable wealth and “deep connections” to law enforcement and organized crime, Bragg said. In 2015, he was accused and later acquitted of charges that he choked a former girlfriend and threatened her with a Bowie knife, the Daily News reported.
“The details in this case are beyond disturbing — a sustained, calculated campaign of violence and cruelty that targeted vulnerable women. This kind of predatory abuse has no place in our city and will be met with the full force of the law,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement.
Court documents allege Hemphill subjected his victims to hours-long abuse, raping them under the threat of torture — often with electricity through the cattle prods and shock collars.
He’s accused of tricking them into ingesting controlled substances to sedate them, slapping and punching them repeatedly, urinating on them, handcuffing them, and, on one occasion, shackling a woman to his bed for an extended period.
The lawyer allegedly convinced some of his victims to disclose their experiences with sexual assault and then deliberately reenacted those acts, prosecutors say.
On his website, Hemphill describes himself as “a successful Private Equity and Venture Capital Executive” with a diverse portfolio of industries. He founded the boutique advisory firm Madison Park Capital Advisors in 2013 and has a background in real estate and performing in and directing off-Broadway shows.
Hemphill’s public defender could not be reached for comment.
Originally Published: April 24, 2025 at 5:00 PM EDT
