Anthony Pennachio.
Photo: Newburgh Police Department / Courtesy
Anthony Pennachio, a teenager from Brooklyn (NYC), accepted a plea deal with prosecutors to evade jail and perform only community service, for sexual abuse on campus from Mount St. Mary College Catholic University in Newburgh.
Pennachio, 19, a student at that private education center, was arrested in March on first-degree rape charges on campus, according to police, who were also seeking other potential victims. In principle, he pleaded “not guilty” and was released on bail.
Later, as part of the settlement with the Orange County (NY) District Attorney’s Office, the teen pleaded guilty to degraded charges of third-degree sexual abuse, records show.
Prosecutors said that in his plea, Pennachio admitted that he subjected the victim to sexual contact without her consent. Now he was sentenced to 80 hours of community service and ordered to stay away from the victim.
The settlement with the prosecution was finalized after consulting with the unidentified victim, prosecutors said. But “My client and his family are deeply saddened that the Newburgh Police Department detectives, who made this arrest for rape in the first degree, rushed to try without interviewing key witnesses in this alleged incident ”, The teenager’s attorney, James DiPietro, said in a statement, quoted by the New York Post.
Mount St. Mary College, a small private catholic university with about 3,000 students, he has fully cooperated with the police department in their investigation, ABC News noted.
A Brooklyn teen charged with raping a victim on campus at a New York college may have more victims.
Mount Saint Mary College student Anthony Pennachio, 19, was arrested.https: //t.co/GpXsOzX7IZ
– New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) March 5, 2021
