Tuesday, May 17, 2005
D.A. BROWN: QUEENS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO RAPING 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL; FACES EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced that a Far Rockaway, Queens man has pled guilty to raping a 12-year-old girl whom he met in July 2003 after she dialed his cell phone by mistake.
District Attorney Brown said, “The defendant has admitted that he engaged in sexual relations in July 2003 with a 12-year-old girl. The defendant has scarred a vulnerable child for life and the prison term to be imposed by the court is more than warranted.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Bernard Luster, 40, of 67-03 Beach Channel Drive, Far Rockaway, Queens, who pled guilty earlier today to Rape in the First Degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Ronald D. Hollie who indicated that he would sentence the defendant to a determinate term of eight years in prison at sentencing on June 20, 2005.
District Attorney Brown said that the defendant admitted that on three occasions, July 16, 18, and July 23, 2003, he drove to the victim’s home, picked her up, and drove to a nearby location where he engaged in sexual activity with her.
The District Attorney said that the victim’s mother learned of the destructive relationship between her daughter and the defendant and notified police prompting an investigation that led to the defendant’s arrest.
Assistant District Attorney Kenneth M. Appelbaum, Deputy Bureau Chief, of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Marjory D. Fisher, Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Charles A. Testagrossa and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney Daniel A. Saunders.