Rosendo 'Rusty' Torres, former Yankee, gets 3 years in prison for sex abuse

Former Yankees outfielder Rosendo "Rusty" Torres was sentenced Thursday to 3 years in prison for sexually abusing a girl younger than 11 at the Plainview clinic where he coached.

Nassau County Court Judge Tammy S. Robbins imposed a sentence less than the one recommended by Assistant District Attorney D.J. Rosenbaum. Torres will have to register as a sex offender when he completes his sentence and also faces 10 years of post-release supervision.

A Nassau jury convicted the baseball journeyman in July for abusing the girl from April 2012 to May 2012 when he was a youth baseball coach for the town of Oyster Bay. The 66-year-old Massapequa resident was acquitted of charges of abusing a second girl under the age of 11.

After the hearing Torres' attorney, Troy A. Smith, said his client maintains his innocence and plans to appeal the guilty verdict.

In a letter to court read by Rosenbaum, the mother of Torres' victim asked for the maximum sentence on behalf of her daughter. The woman, who did not attend yesterday's sentencing, referred to the girl as her "68-pound rock," whose bravery has made other children safe. Torres, meanwhile, sought leniency.

In court, Torres, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer a few years ago, said his stroke-ridden wife depended on him.

"We need each other a lot but I know my wife needs me more," Torres told Robbins. ". . . please just help me to help my family a little more, to help my wife . . . to accommodate her for the few years that she has left on this earth."

Rosenbaum told Robbins Torres' "crimes are reprehensible and leniency is not warranted." She described Torres as "this child's baseball coach, her teacher, a trusted authority figure. He abused this child's trust in the worst possible way."

Rosenbaum asked for the maximum of 7 years on each of the five counts of first-degree sexual abuse, to run concurrently, for "each time he used an 8-year-old girl to gratify his own twisted sexual appetite."

"I hope that you consider giving me a sentence that I can bear," Torres added.

Smith asked Robbins to give Torres probation and have him register as a sex offender -- which he likened to a being ostracized. He said, "What better scarlet letter to give this man than to have to be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life?"

The judge blasted Torres, saying he had not taken responsibility for his actions.

"Mr. Torres has yet to acknowledge . . . any responsibility at all for what occurred," she said.

Robbins said she recognized that Torres is not a young man and that he and his wife have health problems. Robbins also said she recognized he had been a good father and a good husband and was admired, based on several letters of support she received.

"But I also have to take into consideration the fact that there is one young woman who, something has been taken away from her," she said.

Robbins sentenced Torres to 3 years on each of five counts, but the sentences are to run concurrently.

In her letter, the victim's mother said Torres' "charisma has assisted his child molestation . . . only a maximal prison sentence equals justice, safety, and a deterrent."

With John Valenti