Molesting stepdad gets 25 years

A Laurelton man convicted of sexually abusing his wife’s two pre-teen daughters over a six-year period has been sentenced to 25 years in state prison.
Herdis Baptise, 50, of 139-11 226th Street in Laurelton was convicted of “course of sexual conduct against a child” after a two-week jury trial earlier in March, presided over by Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown made the announcement on Monday, March 30, after Justice Camacho handed down the sentence.
Course of sexual conduct offenses involve multiple sexual contacts over a period of “not less than three months,” by anyone with a child less than 11-years-old, or by a person over 18-years-old with a child under 13-years old.
If the offense includes at least one act of sexual intercourse, or oral, anal or aggravated sexual contact, it is considered “first degree,” and carries the 25-year penalty, otherwise, it is “second degree,” punishable by seven years in prison.
Baptiste was convicted of both first- and second-degree course of sexual conduct with a minor.
DA Brown said that according to trial testimony, “[Baptiste] began sexually abusing his two stepdaughters in July 1998 – when they were seven and eight years in age – and continued until July 2004 when the younger of the two turned 13.”
“The girls recounted how, on at least one occasion, Baptise inferred that they should be quiet and said that he would give them candy,” DA Brown said.
Neighbors on the quiet residential street where Baptiste lived were shocked, and would only comment anonymously. “He never spoke to anybody, just got in his car and went to work,” said one woman who lived on the block. “We hadn’t seen him for about eight months,” her husband said. “We were wondering what happened.”
Baptiste had been held without bail at a maximum-security facility on Rikers Island since his arrest last June 18, according to city records.