A Bay Shore man charged with raping a missing East Patchogue teen on a yacht in January is now facing sex trafficking charges in what prosecutors described as an unrelated case, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Daniel Soto, 37, pleaded not guilty Monday to three counts of sex trafficking and two counts of promoting prostitution at an arraignment before acting Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis in Riverhead. He will continue to be held at the Suffolk County jail, where he has remained since his prior arrest in February, with bail increased to $500,000 cash or $3 million bond.

Soto is accused in a new indictment unsealed Monday of arranging for drug buyers to have sex with an adult female victim while keeping all of the monetary proceeds for himself, prosecutors said in a news release. When she refused to participate, he beat her or withheld drugs from her, prosecutors said.

 Soto’s attorney, Katherine Fernandez, said the latest indictment is based on allegations that precede the yacht case but appear to be related to information investigators allegedly found after they took possession of her client's phone in what she called an "unlawful arrest". She said Soto "adamantly denies the new charges in this separate indictment" as he did in the earlier case.

"It is extremely convenient that they cannot find any evidence to add or bolster their current accusations in the boat case where he has never been charged with sexual trafficking," Fernandez said. "Yet now we have this new indictment after my client has made it clear he is choosing his right to a speedy trial in the boat case. We look forward to vigorously defending these claims."  

Soto is one of 11 defendants charged in an 83-count indictment related to the teen’s high profile case involving her 25-day disappearance from Dec. 9 to Jan. 3. He is charged with second-degree rape, also known as statutory rape, and endangering the welfare of a child in that case, while other defendants are accused of trafficking the girl, who was 14-years-old at the time.

Prosecutors previously alleged Soto was invited to the boat by co-defendant Elizabeth Hunter, 34, of Islip, who allegedly took explicit images of the teen that she shared with others to entice them to engage in sexual acts with the girl in exchange for drugs.

Soto was indicted on the new charges following a separate investigation by the Suffolk County Police Department’s Human Trafficking Investigations Unit, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office’s Anti-Trafficking Initiative and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office’s Hate Crimes, Elder Abuse, Anti-Bias, and Human Trafficking Unit, the district attorney’s office said. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Cappiello.

Soto is due back in court on both cases Aug. 13. He now faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of sex trafficking.