(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Darwin Barbacastillo, 27, of Brentwood, was indicted for breaking into a home in Bay Shore, and sexually abusing a 4-year-old child who was sleeping inside.
“This defendant allegedly invaded the privacy of a home to commit a heinous act of sexual abuse of a 4-year-old child,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Children deserve the utmost protection, especially while they are in their own homes where they should feel safe. My office will do everything in its power to hold those who prey upon children accountable.”
According to the investigation, on October 29, 2023, at approximately 8:00 a.m., Barbacastillo allegedly entered a home in Bay Shore through a back door while the victim and her family were sleeping inside. Video surveillance from inside the home allegedly shows Barbacastillo wandering around, testing the bedroom doors to see if they were locked, and looking inside the unlocked rooms. Barbacastillo then allegedly entered the bedroom where the victim and her 9-year-old sister were sleeping and began to sexually abuse the 4-year-old girl, causing her to wake up. Barbacastillo then fled the home.
When the victim’s father woke up shortly thereafter, he found the victim and her sister in the hallway crying, and they told him what had happened. The victim’s father reviewed the home surveillance system, and recognized Barbacastillo as someone that he had previously met a couple times through mutual friends. He then saw that the alleged sexual abuse was also captured on video. Barbacastillo was arrested by police later that day.
On November 15, 2023, Barbacastillo was arraigned on the indictment before County Court Judge, the Honorable Karen M. Wilutis, for the following charges:
• Predatory Sexual Assault Against a Child, a Class A felony;
• Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony;
• Burglary in the Second Degree as a Sexually Motivated felony;
• Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, a Class D violent felony; and
• Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class A misdemeanor.
Judge Wilutis remanded Barbacastillo into custody during the pendency of the case. Barbacastillo is due back in court on December 19, 2023, and he is being represented by Ian Fitzgerald, Esq.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney MacDonald Drane of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau, with investigative assistance from Detective Kacy McLaughlin of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Special Victims Section.