News: Rape Charges on Long Island
(Long Island, N.Y.) A forty-two-year old married Oceanside woman was sentenced to three year’s probation and a $1,200 fine for being convicted of endangering the welfare of a child. She pleaded guilty to the crime back in December, after initially pleading not guilty to the original charge of third-degree rape. The mother of three was caught having an affair with a sixteen-year-old boy, and could have faced up to four years in prison for the criminal sex act charge.
She has since been ordered to stay away from the boy. According to her lawyer, she seemed to be remorseful during her court appearance, and did her best to stay away from the media spotlight. Authorities were notified of the incident by the boy’s father after he confessed to the affair.
Reports stated that the sixteen-year-old was a high school friend of her daughter’s. Some reports claim he had dated her daughter for a year prior to the affair. The indiscretions occurred from June to November of 2009 at the waterfront home she shared with her husband and family.
The sixteen-year-old transferred to a different high school in response to the proceedings. His family insists that he has been devastated by the affair, and claims the woman went as far as saying she planned on leaving her husband for the boy. Since the affair, the minor has allegedly harassed her family with text messages and scandalous Facebook photos/posts.
This wasn’t the first time her family caught the attention of the media. Her husband made news for having testified against Junior Gotti at his murder and racketeering trial to avoid a harsher sentence. Though he was not present at her sentencing, the ex-mobster once stated that his wife had helped him turn away from a life of crime.
Her husband, former member of the Gambino crime family, received the same sentence of three year’s probation for his crimes. His fine, however, was significantly greater at $12,500 – nearly ten times the amount fined to his wife. His sentence was set in May of last year; he could have faced up to six years in prison and was denied bail as he awaited trial.
His life of racketeering started as early as his high school years when he dropped out of school to be a part of Gotti’s Howard Beach and Queens unit of crime. He admits to stealing cars, robbing drug dealers, and committing assault. Junior Gotti lived in the Howard Beach neighborhood.
Many claim that there is a double standard involved with potential rape charges. The woman in this case did not receive jail time or have to register as a sex offender. The argument is that, had the parties in this case been an adult male and a sixteen-year-old girl, the courts would have been less lenient. In cases where sexual acts can’t be proven, it just takes possession of photos of minors to be registered as a sex offender.
The other argument, in defense of the woman, is that the sentencing is just and so is the double standard. Some argue that she wasn’t capable of rape in this case because the sixteen year old was not an innocent child but acted consciously on exaggerated teenaged hormones. Nonetheless, the law is designed to ensure that adults act responsibly in such cases and are held accountable for the consent of minors until the age of seventeen.
Last Sunday a thirty-year-old Youth Group Leader at Patchogue‘s Evangelica Refugio De Salvacion Church was arrested for two counts of first degree rape in the case of a twelve-year-old girl. He awaits arraignment at the First District Court in Central Islip. This incident, which occurred at his home in Bellport, seems to have gotten less coverage.
