from www.nj.com – A 39-year-old West New York woman was sentenced to six years in prison yesterday after being charged with cultivating a relationship with a 17-year-old boy and having sex with him and her own daughter, who was then only 12 years old, officials said.
“Even animals in the wild protect their children instinctively,” said Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor John Mulkeen before the sentencing of the woman, whose name is omitted here to protect the identity of her daughter, who is now 14 years old.
The woman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sexual assault, after originally having been charged with crimes including two counts each of aggravated sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and child abuse, officials said.
Based on court proceedings, it was the mother who cultivated a relationship with the boy on the Internet and then had sex with him and her daughter. The indictment says the activities occurred on diverse dates in 2008 through 2009.
Mulkeen said in court yesterday that the matter came to light when the West New York boy told his mother he was having sex with a woman and her daughter at the same time. His mother went to police because “she knew there was a crime going on,” Mulkeen said in court yesterday.
The prosecutor said the state struck the plea deal in order to spare the daughter from testifying against her mother at trial and said the girl was “extremely vulnerable and fragile” and has had suicidal thoughts.
The mother cried during the hearing as she sat beside her attorney. She was barely audible through her sobs as she read a statement apologizing.
“Your honor, I love my daughter with all my heart,” she said. “If I had it all to do again, I would not have let it go so far. I would die for my children.”
The 39-year-old asked for leniency, saying she suffered from several illnesses including cancer, although no evidence was introduced to substantiate that.
“Please find it in your heart to have compassion, for this is my dying wish,” said the defendant, who was in handcuffs and has been in Hudson County jail in Kearny since her arrest more than a year ago.
“Please, I don’t have much more time on this earth. Please give me a second chance so I can be there for my kids and my family,” she said.
The plea deal called for a six-year sentence and it was upheld by Superior Court Judge Sheila A. Venable, who told the woman: “Your daughter counted on you for protection and as a provider, and you let her down.”
The judge also ordered the woman to have no contact with her daughter, whose custody is currently being decided in Hudson County Family Court.
The woman may become eligible for parole after serving between three and four years. The boy was also charged in the case, and he was sentenced to probation.