LI Man Accused Of Abusing His Stepdaughter For 10 Years Indicted: DA

CENTER MORICHES, NY — A Center Moriches man was indicted Wednesday after he was accused of repeatedly raping his stepdaughter for 10 years — since she was seven years old, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

According to the investigation, the man — the district attorney's office is not releasing his name, in order to protect the identity of the child — allegedly began sexually abusing his stepdaughter

on a regular basis by physically forcing himself on the child as she fought back, Tierney said.

As time went on, his abuse escalated to more aggressive sexual behavior, including sending obscene images of himself to the victim, and demanding that the girl send images of herself back to him, Tierney said.

In order to obtain the illicit images, he threatened to subject her to more sexual abuse if she did not comply, Tierney said.

In May, 2023, the girl begged her mother not to leave her alone with the man, Tierney said. When her mother asked why, her daughter told her about the abuse, Tierney said.

The girl and her mother then formed a plan to catch him in the act, Tierney said. The mother pretended to leave for work; when she returned minutes later through a side door, she found the man completely nude, standing over her daughter and attempting to rape her, Tierney said. The victim’s mother stopped him in the act, and her daughter reported the abuse to the police shortly after, Tierney said.

He was later arrested; on Wednesday, he was arraigned on the indictment before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis, on charges including one count of predatory sexual assault against a child, a felony; one count of first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, a felony; three counts of first-degree criminal sexual act, a felony; 12 counts of first-degree rape, a felony; one count of first-degree attempted rape, a felony; eight counts of use of a child in a sexual performance, a felony; one count second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, a felony; 10 counts of first-degree disseminating indecent material to minors, a felony; eight counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child, a felony; and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, the DA said.

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

"The horror that this child is alleged to have endured for an entire decade of her young life is unfathomable," Tierney said. "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. My office will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that this defendant is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."