A Long Island man has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for the “vicious beating” of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter, prosecutors announced Thursday.
The 33-year-old defendant, whose name has not been released to protect the identity of the child, was accused of assaulting the victim while babysitting early last year, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said in a news release.
The toddler’s mother, who had left the child in the care of the man while she went to work, noticed “significant bruises on her child’s body” when she arrived home on Feb. 19, 2024.
The following day, the mother found a “new, significant bruise” on her daughter’s face. The child was also “vomiting profusely and was unable to stand or respond to her,” officials said.
The mother then took the child to a nearby hospital, where staff determined she was in critical condition. She was transferred to a pediatric acute care facility, where she “received emergency surgery to repair a life-threatening injury to her small intestine, which was caused by significant blunt force trauma.”
On Feb. 28, 2025, a jury found him guilty of first-degree assault and related charges, and on Thursday, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison, followed by 5 years of post-release supervision.
“A defenseless 2-year-old child was left in critical condition after enduring horrific injuries caused by this defendant under circumstances evincing his depraved indifference to her life,” Tierney said in February, following the man’s conviction. “No parent should ever come home to find their child in such a state, and no child should ever have to endure such heinous abuse.”
