Two former NYPD cops have been sentenced to probation for sexually assaulting an incapacitated girl after an evening out at a Bronx bar — because the survivor of the heinous crime urged others to report their tales, irrespective of the title of their assailant.
Julio Alcantara-Santiago, 40, and Christian Garcia, 32, have been sentenced on Friday at Bronx Supreme Legal Court docket after taking a plea settlement for the assault that unfolded on July 9, 2023.
Alcantara-Santiogo appeared visibly nervous in an orange blazer and pinstriped pants as he was sentenced to 6 years of intercourse offender probation.
Garcia sported a two-piece navy go well with and glasses as he accepted one 12 months of probation and was ordered to finish a behavioral therapy program.
On the night time of June 8, 2023, the unidentified girl went out with co-workers at Zona De Cuba lounge in Grand Concourse, in response to a sufferer affect assertion she learn aloud to the courtroom.
After going as much as a rooftop space of the institution and having some drinks, the subsequent factor she recalled was waking as much as being sexually assaulted by two males in a stranger’s house.
“The subsequent factor I keep in mind is barely waking up in somebody’s house. After which what hurts extra is that I see two males over me and really feel fingers in sure components of my physique,” she mentioned.
“I begin to make motion in order that the boys can cease. I’m terrified and scared that if I say one thing or in the event that they discover that I’m awake whereas they’re doing sure issues, they’ll hurt me and even kill me,” she advised the courtroom.
She mentioned she continued to lie there and fell asleep, and awoke the subsequent morning, realizing she was nonetheless within the unusual condo close to the lounge
After desperately calling her sister and greatest buddy for assist, she escaped the house and determined to go to an area Bronx hospital to be evaluated. There, she was given a rape equipment and spoke to a number of cops, the sufferer mentioned.
The 2 officers have been arrested in April 2024 after surveillance footage helped join them to the crime. Each cops have been suspended with out pay, the NYPD mentioned on the time.
The survivor of the assault advised the courtroom she has tried to remain sturdy the previous three years, although the trauma of the incident has left her reeling.
“I waited about three years to lastly put closure on one thing that I want by no means occurred to me or anybody else. I attempted to think about one thing significant to say, however each time I hear each of their names, I really feel nothing however anger and rage,” she advised the courtroom.
“For nearly three years, I’ve pretended to be somebody I’m not. I needed to faux to be sturdy, faux that I used to be therapeutic, and I needed to someway faux to maintain every thing collectively and beneath management, particularly with my youngsters and household,” the girl continued.
“The reality is, I’m so terrified and haven’t any belief in nobody. The truth and the guilt I carry realizing that I allowed myself to welcome new mates in my life and took the chance to attempt to exit and have an excellent time, turned my worst nightmare.”
She added that she determined to carry out hope regardless of believing that reporting two cops with a constructive end result can be “in opposition to all odds.”
“I assumed nobody would consider me over them. I felt unimaginable, like I’m in opposition to all odds. However as an alternative of giving up, I stored transferring ahead, and now I see the guilt was not solely killing me, it was killing them as properly. What they did was improper, and eventually, they’ve additionally got here to the conclusion that what they did was improper,” she continued.
“Now I’ll say to anybody, irrespective of how a lot proof you may have — slightly, so much, irrespective of how scared you might be, irrespective of who the individual is, a police officer, a health care provider, don’t be afraid of the title they maintain, and by no means hand over.”
“Those who [were] purported to serve and defend have been those who failed me. And it doesn’t matter what you are taking away from me, you’ll by no means take away my dignity,” the girl mentioned.
After the highly effective testimony, Decide Ralph Fabrizio thanked the survivor for recounting her story
“I would like you to know your phrases are crucial to me. You’re a sufferer of a horrific crime,” Fabrizio mentioned.
An order of safety was additionally granted for Alcantara-Santiago and Garcia.
Alcantara-Santiago was beforehand arrested for allegedly groping a lady on the Exhausting Rock Cafe in Yankee Stadium in September 2022.
Bronx prosecutors dismissed the case the identical month after viewing surveillance footage of the incident.
You probably have been sexually assaulted and dwell in New York, you possibly can name 1-800-942-6906 without cost and confidential disaster counseling. In case you dwell exterior the state, you possibly can dial the 24/7 Nationwide Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
