Bay Shore Man Sentenced For Sexually Abusing His Niece For 3 Years: DA

BAY SHORE, NY — A 36-year-old Bay Shore man was sentenced Tuesday to 23 years in prison for sexually abusing his niece for about three years beginning when she was four years old.

“This young victim was incredibly brave in coming forward to disclose what the defendant did to her,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said in an announcement. "The defendant took advantage of the trust that his family placed in him when he engaged in the unconscionable abuse of his own niece. My office will always do everything within its power to hold those who prey upon innocent children accountable for their crimes.”

Prosecutors said in 2017, the victim, who was four years old at the time, lived with her family in the basement of a home that was shared with her uncle and grandparents. In the fall of that year, the man invited his niece into his bedroom to play video games.

Once she was there, he sexually abused her and told her that if she told anyone what happened, he would do the same thing to her little sister, prosecutors alleged. The sexual abuse continued until the victim and her family moved out of the house in November 2020.

Two years later, the victim disclosed the abuse to a family member. The Suffolk County Police Department then initiated an investigation which led to the arrest in October 2022.

The man, whose name prosecutors withheld to protect the identity of the child, is being represented by James O’Rourke, Esq.

"The defendant stood in the well of the court, pled 'not guilty' and has maintained his innocence from the very beginning," O'Rourke told Patch after his client was convicted. "This is a horrific crime, and if, heaven forbid, an innocent man has been convicted, it's even more horrific."

He was found guilty Dec. 19 after a jury trial heard before County Court Judge Karen M. Wilutis, for 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.

He was also sentenced to 20 years of post-release supervision.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Renée G. Pardo and Tara Laterza of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau, with investigative assistance from Detective Adolfo Berrios of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Special Victims Section.