A Norfolk man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing his teenage relative.
A Norfolk judge sentenced Jeffrey Moreno, 43, on Aug. 4.
In November 2022, Child Protective Services reported a sexual assault to Norfolk Police special crimes unit detectives. In a forensic interview, the victim disclosed that, when she was 13 and 14 years old, Moreno raped her.
In a November 2020 incident, Moreno asked her to go with him to a store. Instead of running the errand, Moreno parked his car in an otherwise empty lot, forced the child to perform sexual acts on him in the front seat and then forced the child to the back seat where he raped her.
In an August 2021 incident, Moreno again forced himself on the child and raped her in her bedroom of her home.
Following his arrest, Moreno confessed to one of the rapes but claimed “the victim had come on to him.”
Moreno pleaded guilty as charged on May 4, 2023, to rape and aggravated sexual battery of a child less than 15 years old.
Judge Jerrauld C. Jones accepted his plea.
On Friday, Judge Jones sentenced Moreno to an active 12 years in prison, with another 18 years suspended on the conditions that Moreno have no contact with the child and that he complete 20 years of uniform good behavior, an indeterminate period of supervised probation and sex offender registration.
“Mr. Moreno victimized a child in his care, betraying her and her family’s trust,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Mr. Moreno’s guilty plea spared the victim the trauma of having to testify to what she suffered at Mr. Moreno’s hands, and the court’s sentence holds Mr. Moreno accountable.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Stephanie G. Johnson prosecuted Moreno’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth.
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Crystal Graham
