Brewster Man Arrested for Assaulting Elderly Woman
A Brewster man was arrested Wednesday for sexually attacking an elderly woman in the summer of 2009, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office reported.
On July 29, 2009, Maurizio Magnotta, a 46-year-old Riverview Road resident, allegedly climbed through the window of the 80-year-old victim’s home, then accosted and sexually attacked her, the sheriff’s office reported.
“This was one of the most heinous crimes investigated by the Sheriff’s Office in recent memory,” Sheriff Don Smith said in a press release.
Investigators gathered forensic evidence from the crime scene, and specimen samples were submitted to the New York State Police Lab in Albany for DNA analysis, the sheriff’s office reported; when the results came back, Magnotta was a match.
Magnotta was arrested at the Putnam County Correctional Facility, where he was being held on unrelated charges. He faces charges of first-degree sexual abuse and aggravated sexual abuse, first and second degree burglary and two counts of first-degree criminal sex act.
Magnotta is being held in the Putnam jail in lieu of $200,000 cash bail or $400,000 secured bond. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.