Deer Park man convicted of sex assault on boy, 8

A Deer Park man was convicted Friday of having sexual relations with an 8-year-old relative, who previously had been victimized by the man's son, the Suffolk district attorney's office said.

A jury in Suffolk County Court took a little more than an hour to convict Raul Antonio Torres, 52, of predatory sexual assault of a child. Torres became the first person in Suffolk to be convicted of that crime since it was enacted by the state in 2006, the district attorney's office said.

Torres' son, Raul Alfredo Torres, 25, pleaded guilty in January to first-degree criminal sexual act for abusing the same child, a spokesman for District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

Assistant District Attorney John Cortes said after the verdict Friday that the elder Torres sexually abused the child several times from summer 2008 to May 22, 2009, when the child's mother witnessed the child being abused.

"To do this to an 8-year-old boy is absolutely horrendous," Cortes said. "This was a real-life nightmare for this child."

The elder Torres also was convicted Friday of first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. He was acquitted on three counts of first-degree criminal sex act.

Torres faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 26 before County Court Judge Barbara Kahn.

Predatory sexual assault of a child is defined as performing certain sexual acts when the assailant is more than 18 years old and the victim is under 13, Cortes said.

Torres' attorney, Joseph Hanshe of Sayville, said some prosecution witnesses "weren't as credible as the jury found them to be."

"Mr. Torres continues to say that he is innocent of the crime," Hanshe said. "He intends to appeal."

The younger Torres is serving a 15-year sentence at an upstate prison.