(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced a Suffolk County man1 was found guilty after a jury trial on charges including Rape in the First Degree, for sexually abusing a child over the course of three years.
“All child predators should take a hard look at the time this defendant now faces for his abhorrent acts,” said District Attorney Tierney. “My office is committed to protecting the children in Suffolk County and safeguarding their identities. This child was not only brave in coming forward, but inventive in the manner she helped the investigation. While we take precautions to shield their identities, we will continue to make public the justice we get for victims of sexual abuse, so that individuals with intentions of hurting children, like this defendant did, can see the consequences they could face should they decide to cross that line.”
The evidence at trial established that the defendant began to sexually abuse the victim when she was eight years old and continued until she was 11. The victim secretly recorded conversations that she had with the defendant in which she confronted him about the abuse and the defendant made incriminating statements. The victim provided those recordings to the Suffolk County Police Department when she reported the crime, and those recordings were introduced as evidence in the trial.
On April 5, 2023, the defendant was convicted after a jury trial held before County Court Judge, the Honorable Judge Karen M. Wilutis, for the charges of Rape in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class A misdemeanor. He is due back in court on May 5, 2023, and faces up to 40 years in prison. The defendant is being represented by Christopher Brocato, Esq.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Dana Castaldo and MacDonald Drane of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau.