CENTER MORICHES MAN INDICTED FOR REPEATEDLY RAPING STEPDAUGHTER FOR 10 YEARS

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced the indictment of a Center Moriches man,[1] who is accused of sexually abusing his stepdaughter for 10 years, beginning when she was seven years old.

“The horror that this child is alleged to have endured for an entire decade of her young life is unfathomable. Children should look to their parents, stepparents, and guardians for comfort, and not be terrified that they will be sexually abused if left alone with them,” said District Attorney Tierney. “My Office will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that this defendant is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

According to the investigation, the defendant allegedly began sexually abusing his stepdaughter on a regular basis when she was just seven years old by physically forcing himself on the child as she fought back. As time went on, the defendant’s abuse allegedly escalated to more aggressive sexual behavior, including sending obscene images of himself to the victim, and demanding that the victim send images of herself back to him. In order to obtain these illicit images, the defendant allegedly threatened to subject the victim to more sexual abuse if she did not comply.

In May 2023, the victim begged her mother not to leave her alone with the defendant. When her mother asked why, the victim told her about the abuse that the defendant had been subjecting her to. The victim and her mother then formed a plan to catch the defendant in the act. To catch the defendant, the victim’s mother pretended to leave for work. When she returned minutes later through a side door, the victim’s mother allegedly found the defendant completely nude standing over the victim attempting to rape her. The victim’s mother stopped the defendant in the act, and the victim reported the abuse to the police shortly thereafter. The defendant was later arrested.

On Wednesday June 7, 2023, the defendant was arraigned on the indictment before Acting Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Karen M. Wilutis, on the following charges:

• One count of Predatory Sexual Assault Against a Child, a Class A-II felony;
• One count of Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony;
• Three counts of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony;
• Twelve counts of Rape in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony;
• One count of Attempted Rape in the First Degree, a Class C violent felony;
• Eight counts of Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance, a Class C felony; 
• One count of Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child in the Second Degree, a Class D violent felony;
• Ten counts of Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors in the First Degree, a Class D felony;
• Eight counts of Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child, a Class D felony; and
• One count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class A misdemeanor.

Judge Wilutis remanded the defendant, and he is due back in court on July 27, 2023. He is being represented by James DeAngelo, Esq.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney MacDonald Drane of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau, with the investigative assistance from Suffolk County Police Department Detective Michelle Speed of the Special Victims Section.

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Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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[1] The District Attorney’s Office is not naming the defendant in order to protect the identity of the child victim.