Father who raped teen daughter gets 35-year jail sentence

April 27, 2007|By FROM NEWS SERVICES

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A father who raped his teenage daughter over several years and ordered her to throw two newborns he had fathered with her down an air shaft was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

The 45-year-old West New York man pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated sexual assault. The Associated Press is not identifying him to protect the identity of his daughter, the victim of a sex crime.

One of the babies survived and is in foster care. The other one died after being thrown down the shaft.

"These are heinous, cruel and depraved acts committed against your own flesh and blood," said Superior Court Judge Kevin Callahan, who imposed the maximum sentence Wednesday.

According to prosecutors, the father threatened to kill the daughter and her mother if she did not throw the babies down the shaft. The daughter admitted throwing the babies down the shaft under her father's orders.

In a statement, crafted with the help of a cellmate, the man acknowledged his "atrocious crimes."

"I am totally repentant for my past actions, and I do deserve to pay for this," the man wrote in the statement read in court by his attorney. But he also maintained that he did not throw the babies out the window.