14 Years In Prison For Man Who Sexually Assaulted 7-Year-Old Girls In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man was sentenced to 14 years in prison Tuesday, after admitting to sexual contact with two 7-year-old girls in South Ozone Park, Queens.
Lee Samuel, 26, has been held without bail since his arrest in May 2013. He pleaded guilty last month to first-degree criminal sexual assault and sexual abuse, and was sentenced Tuesday by Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Elisa Koenderman, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.
Samuel will also be subject to 20 years' post-release supervision.
Police said last year that Samuel was caught on several surveillance cameras around 115th and Sutter Avenue in South Ozone Park, where the two 7-year-old girls were sexually abused last Wednesday.
Samuel admitted that he approached one girl from behind on May 1, 2013, as she tied her shoe on the sidewalk and grabbed her buttocks, prosecutors said.
Several hours later the same day and about two miles away, Samuel approached the second girl and asked her whether she wanted to play a game, prosecutors said. He instructed the girl to cover her eyes with her hands and stick out her tongue, and when the girl opened her eyes, he grabbed her by the waist and engaged in a sex act with her, prosecutors said.
Sources said investigators picked Samuel up several days later when a friend tipped them off after recognizing Samuel from a video released by police. The friend told officers Samuel had been in hiding in Manhattan.
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