Suffolk DA: Wyandanch Man Pleads Guilty to Rape
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Joseph T. Johnson, 33, of Wyandanch pleaded guilty to Rape in the First Degree, after he raped a woman inside her home in September 2020.
“This is an extremely disturbing case. This defendant broke into the victim’s home and then proceeded to brutally rape her,” said District Attorney Tierney. “This dangerous individual and now convicted sex offender will now go to prison for his crime, where he will be unable to terrorize anyone else.”
According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, on September 19, 2020, Johnson broke into the victim’s residence in Wyandanch while she was inside the home. The defendant then raped the victim in the home, before stealing cash and fleeing the scene. Following the break-in, the victim installed several surveillance cameras in and around the residence.
Two days later, on September 21, 2020, the victim received an alert that her newly installed surveillance cameras had been turned off. She then saw that cameras were damaged or turned away from the home, and the wires had been cut.
Video surveillance captured before the cameras were damaged showed Johnson, wearing white face paint, inside the victim’s residence. Johnson was subsequently arrested by members of the Suffolk County Police Department.
Upon further investigation, Johnson was also determined to be the perpetrator of the September 19, 2020, rape through DNA testing.
On July 28, 2023, Johnson pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Karen M. Wilutis, to Rape in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony. He is due back in court on September 8, 2023, for sentencing and is expected to be sentenced to 18 years in prison followed by 20 years of post-release supervision. Johnson is being represented by Ian Fitzgerald, Esq.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Rose Romeo of the Major Crime Bureau, with investigative assistance from members of the Suffolk County Police Department’s First Squad.
Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.