Long Island Sexual Assault Case 'Horrific': DA

Patchogue NY

24 January, 2022

12:25 PM

Description

RIVERSIDE, NY — A Bellport man who left a woman bloodied and unconscious after sexually assaulting her with a foreign object pleaded guilty in a Riverside Court on Friday to first-degree aggravated sexual abuse, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney's office said. Edward Bell, 40, has been remanded without bail at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverhead since the June 2019 attack, Tierney's office said, adding that he is expected to be sentenced to 16 years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision, before Judge Karen Wilutis on March 7. Bell will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. Police officers found the woman lying on the ground covered in blood in the backyard of a North Bellport home at about 1:30 a.m. on June 29, 2019, according to court filings and statements by the defendant at the court proceeding. When police canvassed the area, they found Bell "walking down the street with blood on his body and clothes," Tierney's office said. Tierney called the assault "horrific." "As a result of this guilty plea, the defendant will now face just punishment," he said. "I am committed to protecting victims of sexual abuse and ensuring that violent predators like this defendant are caught and brought to justice." "I thank the Suffolk County police officers for their swift action in apprehending this defendant near the scene of the crime, which ensured the resolution of this case without further trauma to the victim," he said. Bell in his plea admitted that he had sexually assaulted the victim with a foreign object, and as a result of the assault, the victim had to be placed in a "medically-induced coma while she was treated for her injuries," Tierney's office said.