PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: July 10, 2007

Contact: William J. Smith (718) 556-7150
William.Smith@rcda.nyc.gov

D.A. Donovan: Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Abuse Charges After Victim Attends Child Abuse Awareness Presentation at School
***Jonathan Moreno, 20, Pleads Guilty to 1st Degree Sexual Abuse, Will Be Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison on August 28th***

STATEN ISLAND, NY - Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. today announced that a top-count guilty plea has been entered by Jonathan Moreno, (DOB: 8/31/1985), of Sands Street, Brooklyn to a charge of Sex Abuse in the 1st Degree, a Class D felony, before Justice Leonard Rienzi in State Supreme Court. He will be sentenced to 3 years in prison at his August 28, 2007 sentencing date, as well as to 3 years of post-release supervision. He will also be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law.

Moreno, who was arrested in July 2006, had been charged with two counts of Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree, a Class D felony, and a Class A misdemeanor charge of Endangering the Welfare of a Child. It was alleged that on at least two occasions, in May 2006, that the defendant, a relative of the 9 year old victim, touched the inside of the girl’s vagina in her Staten Island home. The victim reported the abuse following a presentation of the Child Abuse Prevention Program, (ChildAbusePreventionProgram.org) conducted at PS 14, Tompkins Avenue, on June 9, 2006. The allegations made by the girl were promptly referred to the NYC Administration for Children’s Services and led to the indictment filed today.

Partial funding to bring the program into Staten Island schools was provided by District Attorney Donovan. (http://rcda.nyc.gov/pressreleases/2006/pr05122006.htm) District Attorney Donovan stated, “Child abuse cases are among the most difficult cases for prosecutors because of the natural reluctance of young victims to confide their stories of abuse to other adults. I am grateful to this young victim, as well as her little brother in Brooklyn, who came forward and cooperated with investigators to see that this horrible abuse did not go unpunished. I am also grateful to the wonderful people at the Child Abuse Prevention Program for all of the unheralded work they do to keep our kids safe and comfort those who have been victimized. ”

The defendant was also arrested in Brooklyn on July 6, 2006 for alleged abuse against the same victim as well as her 5 year-old brother. He has been indicted by the Kings County District Attorney’s office on two counts of Criminal Sexual Act in the 1st Degree, and one count each of Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree, Endagnering the Welfare of a Child and Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree. He is pending sentence On July 12, 2007 for that case in Kings County Supreme Court where he entered a guilty plea on June 26 to charges of Criminal Sexual Act in the 1st Degree and Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

The case in Staten Island is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Alexander Shapiro of Sex Crimes/Special Victims Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Yolanda L. Rudich, Bureau Chief. The defendant is represented by Carole Siegel, Esq.

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