Long Island man convicted in rape of Brentwood teen, Suffolk DA says

Jurors on Wednesday found a Central Islip man guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman in her Brentwood home last September, the Suffolk County district attorney said.

Jose “Gomez entered a home in Brentwood on September 1 of last year through a bathroom window and sexually assaulted a 19-year-old female,” said Thomas Spota, Suffolk district attorney, in a news release Wednesday. “Her younger brothers were able to disrupt the rape and the defendant fled the scene.”

Suffolk police officers arrested Gomez on Sept. 30, 2016 in Bay Shore, the release said.

Gomez, 35, of East Sycamore Street, was convicted of first-degree rape, first-degree sex abuse and second-degree burglary almost a year to the day of the attack, according to court records and Spota.

“He respects the jury’s decision,” said Gomez’s attorney, Chris Brocato of Central Islip. “He’s disappointed and he still maintains his innocence and he’s going to appeal.”

The weeklong trial in Judge Timothy Mazzei’s Riverhead courtroom ended after more than three hours of deliberation, prosecutors said. They will recommend Gomez serve 25 years in prison at his sentencing Oct. 2, prosecutors said.