Private Investigator goes to trial for 'setting up sex tape sting to blackmail a woman and stop her testifying against his client Sam Israel who is accused of sexually abusing her when she was 12'

A former reality TV private investigator is set to go to trial for an alleged blackmail scheme in which he is accused of secretly recording a sex tape to try and stop a woman from testifying against one of his clients. 

Vincent Parco, 69, is scheduled to face a New York court on Monday after being charged with unlawful surveillance, promoting prostitution and tampering with a witness. 

Parco, who was the star of Parco, P.I. TV series that aired in 2005, is accused of trying to silence a woman into not cooperating in the prosecution of a man who sexually abused her as a child.  

The private investigator was allegedly paid $17,000 by his client Samuel Israel, to secretly film a hotel sex encounter between a prostitute and a relative of the sex abuse victim back in 2017. 

Prosecutors say Israel hired Parco as his private investigator after he was charged in 2016 for sexually abusing the woman when she was 12 years old. 

At the time of his arrest, Israel rejected a plea deal that would have seen him jailed for five years. He was banned from contacting the victim or her family after an order of protection was issued.  

Israel allegedly enlisted Parco's services so he could record the embarrassing video images of the family member in the hotel room to allegedly get the victim to stop cooperating against Israel. 

Prosecutors claim Parco allegedly asked Tanya Freudenthaler to lure the family member to a hotel room in Sunset Park in Brooklyn in December 2016 where secret cameras had been installed.  

Freudenthaler is accused of hiring two prostitutes who were filmed engaging in sex encounters with the family member. 

When Israel appeared in court just weeks later, he rejected the same plea deal. 

Two weeks later, the family member who was filmed engaging with the prostitutes was approached by a stranger who allegedly showed him a video of the encounter and told him: 'Be smart. Stop making trouble.' 

Just days before Israel's trial date in June 2017, a stranger approached a different family member and showed them the video from the hotel. 

The incidents were reported to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office. 

Authorities said they later found videos of the hotel room encounter on Parco's office computer and he subsequently admitted that he was hired by Israel. 

Parco, Israel and Freudenthaler were all indicted in the alleged blackmail attempt in September 2017. 

Israel pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to eight years in prison for witness tampering and criminal sexual act involving the victim. 

Parco has maintained his innocence.

His reality TV show aired in 2015 for two seasons and following cases involved with his family's private investigation firm.