FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Former NYPD Officer Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
For Repeatedly Sexually Molesting a Child
Defendant was a Friend of Victim’s Family
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson today announced that a former New York City Police Officer has been sentenced to three years in prison following his conviction earlier this year on charges of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child for the repeated abuse of a young girl for nearly three years, starting when she was 10.
District Attorney Thompson said, “This defendant’s shameful actions are a shocking betrayal of trust. That he went on to become a police officer makes this case all the more disturbing. He has now been held accountable.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Jacob Sabbagh, 34, of Midwood, Brooklyn. The defendant was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus to three years in prison followed by three years of post-release supervision. He was convicted of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child following a jury trial in June. The judge stayed the execution of the sentence pending appeal.
The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, the defendant was a family friend of the victim and would sleep over at the victim’s home in Flatbush, Brooklyn, approximately every month. The investigation revealed that on each of these visits, between June 2005 and March 2008, the defendant repeatedly groped and fondled the victim and on occasion forced her to reciprocate. The defendant joined the police force in 2009.
The abuse began when the victim was 10 and continued until she was 13. The victim and her family moved out of the country and, when she was 16, the victim told her mother about the past abuse. The case was reported to law enforcement authorities in the country where the victim resided and later referred to the District Attorney’s Victim Services Unit.
In controlled telephone conversations between the victim and the defendant, the defendant is heard admitting to the sexual abuse and apologizing for his actions, according to evidence presented at trial.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Grace Brainard, formerly of the District Attorney’s Civil Rights Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Kevin O’Donnell, Deputy Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau.
#