HARRISBURG — A Harrisburg man convicted of raping a child and other related sexual offenses will serve 35-70 years in prison.
Luis Cruz was convicted by a Dauphin County jury on June 7. He was found guilty of sexually assaulting a girl for a one-year period from 2007 and 2008, when she was between 8 and 9 years old. The girl was the daughter of Cruz’s girlfriend at the time.
The sexual abuse came to light in 2014, when the victim went to authorities after getting into a fight with her mother. During her testimony, the victim told the jury that she felt a lot of hate toward her mother for allowing Cruz to move into their home. The victim provided graphic accounts of the abuse, which she said began with touching and escalated from there.
Another victim testified that she, too, suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Cruz when she was between the ages of 10 and 11. She told the jury that Cruz was her mother’s boyfriend at the time (1995), when she was sexually assaulted in her home. Cruz was charged with the crime, pleaded guilty, and served a sentence of 3-10 years.
The jury in Cruz’s trial deliberated for three hours before returning with a verdict. Cruz was found guilty of Rape of a Child, Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse with a Child, Aggravated Indecent Assault, Unlawful Contact with a Minor, and Corruption of a Minor.
