BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SEXUALLY ABUSING STEPDAUGHTER FOR SIX YEARS, SINCE SHE WAS 11 YEARS OLD

 

Defendant Used Girl in Pornography

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing his young stepdaughter for six years and creating a large volume of pornography using the child. 

 Bronx District Attorney Clark said, “What the defendant did to this young girl is repugnant beyond words. I cannot fathom the trauma inflicted on the victim, who was only 11 years old when the abuse started. Our Office will continue to provide her with support for as long as she needs it.” 

District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Israel Rivera, 30, last of 877 Taylor Avenue, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 20 years post-release supervision by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Laurence Busching on April 9, 2024. The defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child and Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance on January 26, 2024.

According to the investigation, between 2016 and 2023, Rivera sexually and physically abused his stepdaughter while she was between the ages of 11 and 17 years old, in various homes in the Bronx. The defendant also produced pornographic photographs and videos that were recovered from two cell phones as well as social media accounts, featuring the girl. The defendant refused to let the girl go to school or leave his home and watched her daily activities through surveillance cameras. In May of 2023, the victim texted 911 to report the abuse, and police responded to the defendant’s home and rescued the child. The victim’s mother, Yaritza Torres, a codefendant in this case, is alleged to have also sexually abused the young girl, forcing her to have sex with her and Rivera. Her case is pending.

District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Police Officers Wilfredo Rodriguez from the NYPD Bronx Special Victims Squad, and Terence Barrientos from NYPD Police Service Area 8 and Forensic Interviewer Cassey Hidalgo of Safe Horizon’s Bronx Child Advocacy Center for their assistance.