Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that a 67-year-old defendant1 was found guilty by a jury of sexually abusing his great niece for years, beginning on her last day of kindergarten.
The District Attorney is not naming the defendant in order to protect the identity of the child victim.
“Because of this defendant’s horrific actions, his great niece’s memory of her last day of kindergarten will not be a happy one – it will be a reminder of the day that her sexual abuse by a trusted family member began,” said District Attorney Tierney. “As a result of her courage in coming forward to testify against her abuser, the defendant now faces a lengthy prison sentence where he can no longer hurt her.”
The evidence at trial established that in June 2015, the victim’s family took her to a restaurant to celebrate her kindergarten graduation. When the victim needed to use the restroom, the defendant, her great uncle, took her there. After the child had used the bathroom, the defendant pulled down his pants and sexually abused her. The abuse continued whenever the child visited the defendant’s home, until the last incident in May 2020.
The victim told her mother about the abuse in April 2022, when she was twelve years old, during a conversation concerning the victim’s depression and self-image. Her mother reported the abuse to the police, and the Suffolk County Police Department arrested the defendant on April 13, 2022.
On March 20, 2024, the defendant was convicted of Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class A misdemeanor, after a jury trial heard before County Court Judge Karen M. Wilutis.
The defendant is due back in court for sentencing on April 19, 2024, and faces up to 25 years in prison and 20 years of post-release supervision. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. The defendant is being represented by Christopher Brocato, Esq.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney MacDonald Drane of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective Sergeant Lauren Ventura of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Special Victims Section.
Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.
