65°
The 43-year-old Shirley man, who prosecutors are not naming to protect the victim’s identity, was sentenced to 23 years in prison in Suffolk County Court on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
It followed his jury conviction for multiple sex crimes in November 2023.
According to prosecutors, the man began abusing the girl in July 2016 when she was nine years old. The abuse would occur while her mother was at work.
He often threatened the girl in order to keep the abuse quiet, investigators said.
The abuse continued until May 2017 when the man and the victim’s mother separated.
More than two years would go by before the girl told her mother about the abuse in June 2019. Her mother immediately took her to a hospital and the man was arrested.
On Nov. 17, a Suffolk County jury found him guilty of the following felony charges:
- First-degree rape
- Course of sexual conduct against a child
- Sexual abuse
“Children should feel loved and protected in the company of an adult, and not have their innocence taken advantage of, especially in the way that this defendant took advantage of his own stepdaughter,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
“Let this lengthy prison sentence serve as a deterrent and warning to anyone who is even thinking of harming children in Suffolk County, that my office will do everything in our power to hold you accountable.”
In addition to his prison time, the man must complete 20 years of parole and register as a sex offender.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Brentwood and receive free news updates.
