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File this under How ugly do you have to be to think "the best I can hope for is a blind kid 1/4 my age"?
MINEOLA, N.Y. -- A woman hired to tutor an 11-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to rape and sexual abuse of the child and faces six months in jail and 10 years probation when she is sentenced later this year.
Kathy Tuifel, 46, of Hicksville, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree rape and two counts of second-degree sex abuse on Wednesday before Nassau County Court Judge Jeffrey Brown.
Jury selection for her trial on three counts of first degree rape began on Monday. Tuifel could have faced 5 to 25 years in prison if she had been convicted on all three counts. In addition to jail and probation, Tuifel will have to register with state authorities as a sex offender.
Assistant District Attorney Joy Watson said the plea deal was reached after the family of the boy, who is legally blind, asked that he be spared from testifying at the trial.
"We felt the best interest of the child victim here was paramount," Watson said.
Tuifel, an aide in the boy's sixth grade class in Hicksville, was arrested in 2002 after the child told school officials about several sexual encounters he had with the tutor.
Her attorney, Dennis Lemke, said outside court that the plea was "best for everybody."
Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 15.
MINEOLA, N.Y. -- A woman hired to tutor an 11-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to rape and sexual abuse of the child and faces six months in jail and 10 years probation when she is sentenced later this year.
Kathy Tuifel, 46, of Hicksville, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree rape and two counts of second-degree sex abuse on Wednesday before Nassau County Court Judge Jeffrey Brown.
Jury selection for her trial on three counts of first degree rape began on Monday. Tuifel could have faced 5 to 25 years in prison if she had been convicted on all three counts. In addition to jail and probation, Tuifel will have to register with state authorities as a sex offender.
Assistant District Attorney Joy Watson said the plea deal was reached after the family of the boy, who is legally blind, asked that he be spared from testifying at the trial.
"We felt the best interest of the child victim here was paramount," Watson said.
Tuifel, an aide in the boy's sixth grade class in Hicksville, was arrested in 2002 after the child told school officials about several sexual encounters he had with the tutor.
Her attorney, Dennis Lemke, said outside court that the plea was "best for everybody."
Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 15.
