State v. Jose R.

Citations

• 338 Conn. 375

Syllabus

Convicted of four counts of sexual assault in the first degree and three counts of risk of injury to a child in connection with the sexual abuse of his daughter, V, the defendant appealed to this court, claiming that the trial court improperly sentenced him to a period of probation on each sexual assault count and that certain improper remarks made by the prosecutor during closing and rebuttal arguments violated his due process right to a fair trial and his right against self-incrimination. The charges stemmed from incidents that began when V was nine years old, in which the defendant engaged in sexual activity with V and showed her pornographic videos, but V did not disclose the abuse until she was eleven years old. The defendant was then interviewed by an investigator from the Department of Children and Families and, on two other occa- sions, by a detective, M, during which he denied sexually abusing V or showing her pornography. At trial, V testified, inter alia, that the defen- dant had sexually abused her when she was nine years old, and M testified about her two interviews with the defendant, but there was no physical evidence or eyewitness testimony, and the defendant did not testify. After the jury returned its verdict, the trial court sentenced the defendant to concurrent terms of ten years' incarceration on each count of risk of injury to a child and, on each count of sexual assault in the first degree, to concurrent terms of twenty-five years' incarceration, execution suspended after twenty years, followed by ten years of proba- tion. On the defendant's appeal, held: In accordance with our policy of protecting the privacy interests of the victims of sexual abuse and the crime of risk of injury to a child, we decline to identify the victim or others through whom the victim's identity may be ascertained. See General Statutes § 54-86e. 376 SEPTEMBER, 2021 338 Conn. 375 State v. Jose R. 1. The trial court improperly imposed a sentence that included a period o