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A former New York City Police Department detective from Queens and his wife, pleaded guilty last Thursday to charges of attempted kidnapping in connection with the prostitution of a 13-year-old Brooklyn girl.

Wayne Taylor, 35, and his wife Zelika Brown, 29, of Jamaica, pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted kidnapping after initially contesting the charges.

“These guilty pleas bring to resolution a nightmarish case in which a New York City Police detective – who is sworn to serve and protect the community – was instead accused of helping to prostitute a troubled young child who had run away from home,” District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. “The guilty pleas will save the victim from having to testify and recount the horrific situation that she endured.”

The 13-year-old girl ran away from home earlier this year, according to prosecutors, and met someone who offered to get her into the business of dancing for money at parties. Soon after, the girl was introduced to Brown and Taylor, who began using the girl as a prostitute, prosecutors said.

Taylor, a former police detective, allegedly told the girl to pretend she was 19-years-old. He allegedly told the girl to charge $40 for oral sex and $80 for intercourse, prosecutors said. Taylor and Brown are alleged to have brought the girl to parties throughout the City between Jan. 10 and Jan. 27, where she was made to perform sexual acts with approximately 20 men who had paid them for sex with her.

The teen was allegedly told that their home was equipped with an alarm system that would notify him if she escaped, according to initial statements by prosecutors.

Brown also allegedly harassed the girl for not earning enough money and slammed her head into the floor on one occasion.

But Taylor’s attorney insists his client was with just the wrong people at the wrong time.

“It’s reasonable to conclude that Detective Taylor exercised poor judgment in terms of the company he chose to keep outside of his employment with the New York City Police Department,” Stephen Drummond, Taylor’s attorney, said.

Drummond said that while he believed his client’s individual conduct was not a crime, that the actions of some of Taylor’s associations could be attributed to him under the law.

The couple was initially charged with second-degree kidnapping, second- and third-degree promoting prostitution, third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child upon their arrest.

“It was my recommendation that he enter a plea of guilty to the charges of attempted kidnapping,” Drummond said of the plea deal, which resulted in the more serious charges being dropped.

Taylor, a 14-year veteran of the NYPD Housing Bureau, resigned before pleading guilty to the charges.

Brown and Taylor were arrested in January after the girl fled their Jamaica home and contacted police. The girl has since been returned to her family.

Both Brown and Taylor face up to three and a half years in prison when they are sentenced on Aug. 4.