Jury convicted defendant for repeated sexual abuse of a child that started when the victim was 10 years old
April 23, 2024
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced today that a Peekskill man was sentenced to 16 years in state prison for engaging in sexual conduct with a child for nearly a year.
DA Rocah said: “The survivor in this case, just a young child, demonstrated remarkable resilience and courage in coming forward. Sexual abusers often prey upon their victims by exploiting their role as a person in a position of trust. As we commemorate Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month during April, I remind Westchester residents that my Office is fully committed to bringing sexual predators to justice, as we have done today, and ask everyone to speak up and report any suspected abuse.”
After a three-week trial, a jury on March 19 found the defendant, Luis Urgiles, 46, guilty of Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child in the First Degree, a felony, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a misdemeanor. The defendant, who has a prior felony conviction, was also sentenced to 20 years of post-release supervision and is required to register as a sex offender.
As detailed during the trial, the defendant, a cab driver in Peekskill, met the victim’s family while they were passengers in his cab. The defendant befriended the family and began grooming the then 10-year-old victim in order to sexually abuse and assault her.
The defendant repeatedly subjected the victim to multiple sexual acts between October 2021 and July 2022.
The Peekskill Police Department arrested the defendant on Oct. 30, 2022, following a police investigation that ensued when the child reported the abuse.
The District Attorney thanked the Westchester Institute for Human Development’s Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC), and members of the DA’s Office Special Prosecutions Division, including translator Martha Arango, Senior Domestic Violence Aide Christine Aquino, and Domestic Violence Aides Christina Viera and Sherly Vera.
Anyone who may have been victimized or may have information about other possible victims of the defendant can contact the DA’s Office Special Prosecutions Division directly at (914) 995-3000. Language assistance is available.
The case was before Judge Robert Prisco in Westchester County Court and prosecuted by Child Abuse Bureau Chief Christine Hatfield and Senior Assistant District Attorney Mollie O’Rourke, both of the Special Prosecutions Division.
