Teenager accused of breaking into Mastic Beach home and raping young mother with her 4-year-old daughter present, has been arrested.
District Attorney Ray Tierney announced on Tuesday that a 14-year-old had been charged with a “shocking and extremely disturbing” series of events on April 19.
At about 3:15 p.m., the masked teen and another suspect allegedly broke into the victim’s home, Tierney said. The mother, who was with her child in a locked room, assumed the noise was her husband arriving.
Investigators say the defendant demanded cash and another suspect searched the house for items to steal shortly after the victim heard the noise.
“While the defendant was alone in the room with the victim and her daughter, the defendant who was armed with a knife began to rape the victim in front of her daughter,” Tierney recounted the horrific details to reporters.
The suspect dragged the mother into the hallway and sexually abused her there. Later, Tierney said the victim was dragged into her room where the daughter was hiding. When he tried to drag the 4-year-old girl into the hallway, her mother resisted.
Tierney said the two fought into another room where the teen allegedly cut the victim’s left side of the face from brow to hairline. He stabbed her in the chest too.
“Despite her ordeal, she’s doing well and our thoughts and prayers go out to her,” Tierney later said of the victim.
After stealing some items, the suspect and his accomplice left and police were called. Long Island Community Hospital treated the victim with staples and stitches. DNA evidence was collected and a sexual assault exam was performed.
Two days after the heinous incident, the teen suspect was arrested on unrelated charges. He admitted to burglarizing the Mastic Beach home but denied sexual assault allegations.
However, on April 27, a lab report indicated that his DNA matched evidence gathered in the aftermath of the sexual assault.
Prosecutors then presented the case to a grand jury, where the 14-year-old was charged with rape, criminal sex act, assaults, burglaries, sex abuse, strangulation, and endangering the welfare of a child.
On May 3, the suspect was arraigned without bail. Due to the defendant’s age and the nature of the case, neither the suspect nor the victim were identified.
In the meantime, his accomplice remained at large, and police provided no additional information.
