Queens Child Rapist Who Abused Relative Gets 17.5-Year Sentence: DA

QUEENS, NY — A Queens sexual predator who raped a child relative over 10 years received a lengthy prison sentence, prosecutors said.

Julio Fernando Pina-Illescas, 39, of Corona, was sentenced to at least 17.5 years in prison Monday, authorities said.

Pina-Illescas had raped and sexually assaulted a girl relative starting when she was 4 years old, said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Jurors last month found him guilty of predatory sexual assault.

“This defendant, now a convicted sexual predator, used his access and authority to prey on an innocent child," Katz said in a statement.

"While we cannot take away the trauma caused by his acts, I hope the prison sentence provides a measure of closure to the young victim, who bravely stepped forward to tell us about the horrors she was forced to endure."

The sexual abuse case isn't the only one Pina-Illescas faces in Queens.

He was indicted in 2020 on sexual abuse charges connected to accusations he abused two other pre-teen girls, including another child relative, prosecutors said.

That case is pending in Queens court, authorities said.