Jury Convicts Rockland Man Who Touched 12-Year-Old's Genitals

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — A Haverstraw man was found guilty of sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child a decade ago, Rockland County District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II announced Tuesday.

Ramiro Linares, now 39, touched the genitals of a female child known to him in December 2012, when she was 12 years old. Between October 2012 and July 2013, he engaged in conduct that endangered her welfare, Walsh said.

He was found guilty on one count of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree and one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child after a jury trial before Judge DiCaprio in the village of Haverstraw that started Sept. 19 and concluded Sept. 22.

"Children are one of our most precious resources and represent the future. The abuse of an innocent child is unconscionable and sickening," Walsh said in the announcement. "My office will continue working with our local, state, and federal partners to protect children in Rockland County. We will be seeking the maximum penalty under the law at sentencing."

Linares faces up to one year in jail on each of these offenses and will have to register as a
sex offender.

The investigation was handled by the Haverstraw Police Department with the assistance of the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Unit. Senior Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Knowlton and Assistant District Attorney Ralph DeLuca prosecuted the case.