New York man sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting young girl in CT

A New York man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in Bridgeport while he was also attending the New York Police Academy, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.

Henry Becerril-Aldea, 33, of Bronx, New York, appeared in court in Fairfield on Wednesday and was sentenced by Judge Earl B. Richards III to 20 years in prison suspended after 15 years served, followed by 10 years of probation, for repeatedly sexually assaulting the teen, according to the DCJ.

Becerril-Aldea was convicted by a jury in March on charges of sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor that stemmed from assaults carried out in Bridgeport. At the time of the sexual assaults, Becerril-Aldea was in the New York Police Academy training to be a school resource officer, court records said.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Becerril-Aldea repeatedly sexually assaulted the teen girl between April 2016 and October 2016, when he was 26 years old.

The girl’s mother confronted Becerril-Aldea, who repeatedly threatened to hurt the girl and her family and also threatened to take the girl out of the country if his crimes were reported, court records said. The girl had recently relocated from Puerto Rico and did not speak English.

At his sentencing, Richards said Becerril-Aldea had “taken away the youth and innocence of the victim,” according to the DCJ.

Richards also ordered a lifetime protective order that prohibits Becerril-Aldea from having any contact with the victim and 10 years on the Connecticut Sex Offender Registry, which includes no contact with any minors throughout the period of his probation and community-based sex offender treatment, the DCJ said in a statement.