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U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr. found Joseph Barsuk, a former chiropractor, to be a danger to the community that no terms and conditions of release that he could impose on Barsuk would reasonably assure the community’s safety.

Barsuk, described by a prosecutor as a regular customer at Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club in Cheektowaga, faces a sex-trafficking conspiracy count, as well as sex trafficking by coercion.

Barsuk used pressure and coercion to take advantage of a drug-addicted dancer at the club to turn her into “his de facto sex slave,� Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi said at Tuesday’s court hearing.

The dancer engaged in sex acts to maintain her supply of cocaine and heroin.

“The fear of withdrawal would make her do anything to avoid that sickness,� Tripi said, adding Barsuk “controlled the victim for his own sexual gratification.�

Tripi said Barsuk rented an apartment for her and provided her transportation.

Defense lawyer James Quinn Auricchio told the judge he opted against seeking a mental competency exam for Barsuk, which he considered in October, saying his visits with his client convinced him one wasn’t necessary. But Auricchio said Barsuk does have mental health issues.

Prosecutors have said customers were able to pay money for Pharaoh’s employees to “to turn a blind eye� to illicit activity in the VIP room, where dancers were kissed, had their hair pulled or engaged in sex acts.

Auricchio told the judge the government’s allegation about what happened inside the club “does not mean my client was part of that.�

Auricchio said Barsuk has been a customer at Pharaoh’s but denies he was ever part of any kind of sex-trafficking conspiracy.

Auricchio said Barsuk had no ability to control the dancer. If the government wants to convict Barsuk over his interactions with a dancer at the club, Auricchio said, “then every single person who went into the VIP room is a human trafficker.�

Barsuk was convicted of two misdemeanor sexual abuse charges and was sentenced to 60 days in prison in 2001 after police accused him of molesting two teenage girls who came for treatment at his office.

Tripi also listed for the judge numerous complaints over the years about Barsuk in Batavia, including following around young store clerks in retail stores and even standing in their check-out lanes several times on the same day.

The judge said he did not find Barsuk’s criminal record extensive but found the nature of the charges “disconcerting.�

“I look at the criminal history of the defendant, it establishes to my satisfaction by clear and convincing evidence that this defendant does have a propensity for engaging in criminal activities,� Schroeder said in his ruling.

The main defendant in the Pharaoh’s case is the strip club’s owner, Peter Gerace Jr., who faces felony charges of drug trafficking, sex trafficking and paying bribes to a former federal drug agent, Joseph Bongiovanni. Both Gerace and Bongiovanni, who is charged with accepting bribes, have pleaded not guilty.