A Brooklyn judge on Wednesday handed down a wrist-slap sentence of just three years to an unrepentant ex-cop convicted of molesting a young girl for years and then freed him on bail pending his appeal as his now 21-year-old victim sobbed in the gallery.
Despite a heart-wrenching statement in court from the victim, who came forward in December to accuse the cop of having abused her when he was a family friend, the judge seemed top reserve his sympathies for the convicted ex-cop.
“He invaded me over and over again,” the young woman told Juistice Alan Marrus. “This is someone I trusted, and my family trusted. He took advantage of me, my vulnerability, and my trust. I beat myself up,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“He drained me of my light. He played with a good little girl I was a good little girl who did nothing wrong.
I am now incapable of having healthy relationships with men,” she cried. “When you’re sentencing him, I ask you to think of that little girl who was a victim of sexual abuse by Jacob Sabbagh.”
Sabbagh was convicted by a jury in June on charges of second-degree sexual misconduct against a child.
“While the defendant only faces up to 7 years, the victim will suffer forever,” Assistand District Attorney Grace Brainard told the courtroom after the young woman’s heart-wrenching statement.
But Marrus remained seemingly unmoved by her words or tears, and coddled Sabbagh. “I wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t moved by your statements,” Marrus told the fallen cop as he sniffled at the defense table.
“I read the letters, there’s a lot of good you have done, if not for this case, you would be a good person,” Marrus said.
Sabbagh, a family friend of the victim, was convicted of molesting the girl beginning at age 10 until she turned 13. He faced up to seven years in prison after his June conviction.
“I stand here with almost nothing left,” the convict said after a long pause. “My wife is due in two weeks, She will need me to be there for her. My dad had a heart attack two weeks ago,” he said. “My brother has cerebral palsy.”
As Sabbagh whined, the victim, who bravely sat in the gallery after making her statement, forcibly turned her body to ensure she wouldn’t have to look at him.
“I’m innocent,” he wept. “These allegations are false.”
Marrus set bail at $100,000 bond and $10,000 cash. Sabbagh has until Friday to post it.
