By:Nick Buglione
"I was just back and forth in my head about whether I should say anything or just drop it," the victim said in an interview with the Herald. Eager to flesh out the details of an alleged crime far more complicated than first characterized by the media, and angry at published comments from those close to the accused insinuating she is lying, the victim and her father addressed the incident for the first time publicly on Monday. Their names are being withheld to protect their identities.
Joseph Locoteta, 20, one of the two arrested and charged in the incident, had been a close family friend for some time, the father said. "He dated my niece for three years," he said. "In fact, I've known both these boys for a long time, a few years."
So he assumed his daughter was in good company at the July 24 Martin Avenue block party she attended with Locoteta. She called to check in at 12:30 a.m., and, thinking nothing was wrong, he agreed to let her stay out a little longer. Locoteta "personally got on the phone to ensure the safety of my daughter," the father said. "He personally ensured her safety back home."
The victim had been hanging out with Locoteta and his friends in the two months since she had moved out of her mother's home in another part of Long Island and into her father's place in North Bellmore. The victim said she developed a crush on Salvatore Piccarillo, 19, the other man arrested and charged in the rape.
The fact that she was spending time with older kids didn't worry her father. "When I was younger, I always had older friends," he said. "Everything seemed to be very innocent in the beginning. I figured they'd give her the same level of respect that they gave my niece."
North Bellmore was supposed to be a fresh start for his daughter -- a place where she could make new friends, nurture her aspirations of a singing career and even join the cheerleading squad at Mepham High School in September. But what seemed like a dream turned into a nightmare the day of the block party, she said.
She and Locoteta had been drinking before they left the party, according to police. "He told me we were meeting Sal [Piccarillo], and I said OK," she said. "He told me we would go back to his house. When Sal walked in the door, they went into the bathroom and started talking."
Piccarillo then took the teenager into the basement, where he raped her, according to police and the victim. Locoteta then joined him, police and the victim charge, holding her against her will and allegedly forcing her to perform sexual acts on both of them.
The victim said there was nothing consensual about the encounter. "I had a crush on Sal, but I would never do anything like that," she said.
Driving her home, Locoteta threatened her to keep quiet, the victim said, and she did for the next five days. Still, her father could sense something was wrong. "Something wasn't right with her the whole week," he said. "She didn't talk too much, she didn't eat much."
Finally, he confronted her the Friday after the incident, and she spoke up. "It took every ounce of me to not get my bat and drive around town looking for these kids," the father said.
Instead, he called police, and after a week-long investigation, officials arrested Piccarillo and Locoteta. Piccarillo was charged with two counts of first-degree rape and two counts of a first-degree criminal sexual act, while Locoteta was charged with two counts of a first-degree criminal sexual act.
The two posted bail and are due back in court Sept. 8, the District Attorney's Office said. If convicted, they face six to 25 years in prison.
This is not the first time the two have been in trouble with the law. Piccarillo was convicted for unlawful imprisonment in December 2002, and Locoteta has several convictions for criminal mischief, according to police.
News of the alleged rape was all over the media. But it was comments made by an attorney of one of the accused and sources close to the family of the other in last week's Herald that compelled the father and his daughter to come forward. The comments made the father furious. They made his daughter cry.
"I want to show my daughter is the victim and not the criminal in this," the father said. "This is your everyday, average child. She comes from a good family. There's nothing wrong with this girl."
But now she is tormented by nightmares, has to see a counselor and is afraid to leave the house, he said. He wouldn't even think of enrolling his daughter in Mepham High now, he said, and he is already looking to move out of the neighborhood. "We have to move my whole life around," said the father, who has lived in Bellmore for about a year. "Now I have to pick up my life. This just put a damper on everything."
