(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that a Guatemalan national,[1] 40, was found guilty of Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child after a jury trial for repeatedly sexually abusing his stepdaughter over the span of five years.
“What this child went through in her own home is unimaginable,” said District Attorney Tierney. “It’s because of her bravery and strength that my office was able to obtain justice for her and her family today.”
The evidence at trial established that in 2014, the victim moved to Riverhead with her mother, and they began living in a room in a house with the defendant, her stepfather. The mother left home at approximately 3:30 a.m. six days a week to go to work at a deli, while the defendant was home until approximately 5:30 a.m. before leaving for work. The victim, who was six years old at the time, testified that the defendant began waking her up after her mother left for work and carrying her into his bed, where he sexually abused her. The abuse continued for years, and the victim did not realize initially that what the defendant was doing to her was wrong because she trusted him and she was too young to understand what was happening.
When the victim was 9 years old, a presentation about good and bad touches was given to her fourth grade class by a school social worker, and the victim learned for the first time that what the defendant was doing was wrong. The victim began to tell the defendant to stop, and the sexual abuse became less frequent, but continued. The last incident occurred in 2019, but the victim did not disclose the abuse to an adult because the defendant threatened her and she did not want to break up her family. In 2023, the defendant was no longer living with the family, but the trauma the victim endured was negatively impacting her life and schoolwork. The victim told her mother and the police. On October 19, 2023, the defendant was arrested following an investigation by the Southampton Town Police Department.
On December 17, 2025, the defendant was convicted after a jury trial, heard before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis of Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child, a Class B violent felony. The defendant is due back in court on February 4, 2026, for sentencing and faces up to 25 years in prison with up to 20 years post release supervision. He is represented by the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County.
DHS-ICE has lodged a detainer to return the defendant to ICE custody after he serves his sentence. The defendant was also previously deported in 2006.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Ashley Moruzzi and Sean Murphy of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau, with assistance from District Attorney Investigator Robert Fichett. The investigation was conducted by Detective Michael Algozzino of the Southampton Town Police Department.
[1] The District Attorney is not naming the defendant to protect the identity of the child victim.