Family fight breaks out after court hearing in NYC honeypot kidnapping case
A shouting match broke out in Manhattan court Tuesday between relatives of the alleged honeypot sadist suspected of luring a man she met on Instagram into a twisted kidnapping and torture scheme.
Warring factions of Valerie Rosario’s family — split on their support for her — began brawling after her Manhattan Supreme Court arraignment on an indictment charging her with the sick Feb. 7 plot.
“She doesn’t give a f–k about me or my daughter,” Rosario’s sister screamed in the hallway of 111 Centre Street.
The woman continued ranting, accusing her 22-year-old sister of breaking into her New Jersey apartment and robbing her.
“And I’m wrong for being here to speak to the DA?,” she asked.
The family feud spilled out onto the street — where court officers were forced to intervene to keep things from getting violent.
Rosario, meanwhile, who appeared at the hearing in beige jail sweats, her hair pulled back into a bun, pleaded not guilty to the charges through her attorney Raymond Loving.
Assistant District Attorney Megan Dibello successfully argued to keep the accused con woman locked up without bail.
“This defendant and others abducted the victim for hours, brutally tortured him and held him for ransom,” Dibello said, recounting The Post’s exclusive last month.
“The victim was lured to the defendant’s apartment by Ms. Rosario after speaking to him over Instagram for several months,” Dibello said. “When the victim arrived, Ms. Rosario attempted to ply him with alcohol.”
Then, three men arrived, pistol-whipping the victim.
“Over the course of the night, the men stripped the victim of his clothing, restrained him and put him in a bathtub, where they proceeded to burn him by lighting flammable perfume and other liquids about his body, back and legs. They also stabbed him with a knife multiple times about the body,” the prosecutor continued.
The fiends then stuffed the victim, a 24-year-old Bronx man, into the trunk of a car and demanded a $100,000 ransom from his brother.
Prosecutors have said the young man was “barely breathing” when he was found, wrapped in a furniture-moving blanket, with tape covering his nose and mouth, inside the van parked in Queens.
Sources told The Post last month that Rosario, who was arrested March 10, and the three other sickos targeted the victim because they believed he was a wealthy prey.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Rosario’s attorney asked Judge Felicia Mennin for his client to be released with electronic monitoring.
“I am cognizant of the fact that that Ms. Rosario stands before the court charged with some serious crimes,” Loving said. “Nevertheless, in Ms. Rosario’s case, the least restrictive alternative to ensure her return to court is to release her and place her on electric monitoring.”
Loving pointed out that Rosario was employed at Riverdale Comprehensive Dentistry, a Bronx clinic, at the time of the crime.
“The complaint states that this incident commenced at 1:00 in the morning. However, her time records show that at 8:49, she clocked in at work,” he added.
The judge retorted: “I don’t put much value in those records.”
Rosario is due back in court on June 7.
