Thread: Staten Island sex offender sentenced to 5 years; could be deported

Staten Island sex offender sentenced to 5 years; could be deported

Published: Sunday, June 10, 2012, 8:17 PM
By Frank Donnelly/Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Sunnyside man, convicted of sexually abusing a boy he knows, potentially faces deportation after being sentenced to five years in prison.

Gilberto Urrego, 50, pleaded guilty two weeks ago in state Supreme Court, St. George, to one count of attempted first-degree criminal sexual act, formerly classified as sodomy.

The victim was a family friend -- one of three boys ranging in age from 8 to 15, who the defendant was accused of molesting, said prosecutors.

Urrego, a Colombia native, sexually abused the youths more than 20 times over the course of seven years, authorities alleged.

A law enforcement source said prosecutors reached the plea deal due to potential evidentiary issues. The victims, in some cases, were reluctant to speak about the incidents and couldn't clearly remember others, said the source.

Police said the investigation was set in motion in October 2010, when a teen, whose family is friendly with Urrego, went to police.

In court papers, prosecutors allege Urrego began molesting the boy in February 2009, when the victim was 13 years old.

Over the next 20 months, the suspect sexually abused the teen at least 18 times, said court papers. The attacks allegedly occurred in the boy's New Dorp Beach home, said a law enforcement source.

Staten Island Special Victims Squad detectives soon located two other victims, said prosecutors. One, a New Dorp Beach resident, alleged that Urrego molested him when he was 11.

The other was 8 when Urrego began sexually assaulting him in his Tompkinsville home almost a decade ago, said prosecutors. The defendant attacked the boy three times over the course of a year, prosecutors alleged.

Police and the source said the two younger victims were also family friends of Urrego.

Urrego was arrested Oct. 19, 2010, by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at Newark Airport. Cops had notified various authorities that he was wanted for sexual abuse on the Island. The suspect was trying to board a plane to Bogota, Colombia, said police.

As part of the sentence imposed Thursday, Urrego must register with state authorities as a sexual offender, said a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan. Urrego could face deportation proceedings after serving his sentence.

Defense lawyer Peter Guadagnino of Manhattan declined comment on the case.

Staten Island sex offender sentenced to 5 years; could be deported | SILive.com

Urrego could face deportation proceedings after serving his sentence.

COULD face deportation proceeding? He had better get deported, IMO what he did was depraved.