A Long Island man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for repeatedly raping his young stepdaughter for nearly a decade, officials announced Monday.
The horrifying abuse began in 2014, when the girl was just 7 years old, and escalated to include anal rape, the 36-year-old man told the court during his guilty plea allocution, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
The defendant’s name has not been revealed to protect the victim’s identity.
During the nearly 10 years of harrowing abuse, the Center Moriches resident would send the victim obscene images of himself and demand the girl do the same. To force the young girl to comply with his demands, he “ threatened to subject the child to more frequent anal rape,” authorities said.
The girl’s decade of terror only ended in 2023, after the then-teenage victim told her mother about the abuse.
The two then came up with a plan to catch him in the act. In May 2023, the mother said she was going to work, but returned minutes later through an unlocked side door.
She then saw the man “completely nude and standing over the victim while he attempted to rape her.” She managed to stop him from “completing the act” and called authorities, who took him into custody.
Late last month, the defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, a Class B violent felony. On Monday, Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen Wilutis sentenced him to 20 years in prison followed by 20 years of post-release supervision.
“While no punishment can ever fully heal the physical and emotional wounds inflicted, this sentence will ensure that the defendant is no longer able to abuse this survivor, her family, or anyone else,” District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement. “The offender will be in prison where he belongs.”
His lawyer didn’t immediately return a request for comment Tuesday morning.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit rainn.org for confidential support.
Children, teens and their loved ones are encouraged to call or text the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) or visit ChildHelpHotline.org.
