(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Lazaro Alberto Huertasperez, 30, a Guatemalan national, was sentenced to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty in November 2025 to Rape in the First Degree and other related charges, for sexually abusing a 14-year-old child after providing her with a glass of water that contained a substance that caused her to lose the ability to control her body.
“Huertasperez committed a heinous crime. No child should ever go through the trauma that the 14-year-old victim in this case went through,” said District Attorney Tierney. “I hope today’s sentence serves as a reminder that my office will do everything in our power to protect children from predators.”
According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, during the summer of 2021, the victim was waiting for a ride to the laundromat. Huertasperez, who lived in the same multi-family house as the child, offered the victim a glass of water. When the victim drank the water, she began to feel drowsy and attempted to go upstairs. As she walked, Huertasperez grabbed her around her waist and began to carry her. The victim began to black out and could not control her arms or feel her legs. She remembered being carried to Huertasperez’s room but then lost consciousness. When the victim woke up, she was in Huertasperez’s bed and in pain. Approximately nine months later, the victim gave birth to a child.
In April 2022, upon learning of the birth, Huertasperez fled Suffolk County and boarded a flight to Guatemala. Subsequent paternity testing corroborated the victim’s allegations, that the defendant was the biological father of the child.
On October 23, 2024, Huertasperez was arrested at the United States border when he attempted to illegally re-enter the country. United States Customs and Border Patrol became aware that Suffolk County had an outstanding warrant for Huertasperez’s arrest and notified the Suffolk County Police Department Fugitive Unit, who then brought him back to Suffolk County to face these charges.
On November 5, 2025, Huertasperez pleaded guilty to the following charges before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis:
- Rape in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony;
- Rape in the Second Degree, a Class D violent felony;
- Sexual Misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor; and
- Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class A misdemeanor.
On December 9, 2025, Huertasperez was sentenced to 17 years in prison. He was represented by Chase Brown, Esq.
The United States Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have lodged a detainer to deport Huertasperez after he serves his sentence.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katherine Flinchum of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective Roman Wilinski of the Southold Police Department, with assistance from the Suffolk County Police Department’s Fugitive Unit.