Valley businessman sentenced for sexually abusing baby sitter

PALMER — A successful Palmer businessman was sentenced Friday to serve a year in prison after he was convicted of sexually abusing his 16-year-old babysitter.

Gary Lorusso didn’t say anything during his sentencing hearing Friday, preferring, apparently, to let his attorney, Allen Dayan, and a pair of business partners speak for him.

“I have never had a reason to doubt his honesty or integrity,” said Robert Munford. “He’s no stranger to community service. He gave of himself freely.”

Russell Joyce said he knew Lorusso to be a person who takes responsibility for his mistakes.

“I’m sure you can’t punish him more than he’s punished himself,” he told Superior Court Judge Greg Heath. “I am a better person just for knowing Gary Lorusso. I can honestly say that.”

Even the mother of the girl Lorusso was convicted of sexually abusing didn’t go so far as to say she wanted to see him locked away forever.

“I certainly am not here to ruin someone else’s life,” the mother said. “I just had to do what I had to do for my daughter.”

She said she wanted to see Lorusso serve some prison time “to pay for what he did.”

The victim also addressed the court.

“This one incident has taken a huge toll on my life,” she said.

As a child, she spent a lot of time angry, wondering what she did to bring on Lorusso’s advances. Now an adult, she told the court that she’s managed to conquer those feelings.

“He has a child of his own and should have had a paternal and a moral instinct that what he was doing was wrong,” she told the court.

Prosecutor Trina Sears pointed out that while Lorusso had been forthcoming at first in talking to police and expressing remorse, at trial he tried to argue that maybe the sex had happened after the girl was no longer a minor, or that she had made advances toward him, or that her parents wanted his money.

The sentence, she said, should take into account whether Lorusso had taken responsibility.

“Is he someone who’s going to do that or not? And at this point he’s not,” Sears said.

Since the abuse was proven to have occurred prior to a stiffening of the state’s sentencing laws for sexual abuse of a minor, Lorusso faced at most a two-year prison term. Sears asked for one year of prison time and an additional year of suspended time, which he could be liable to serve if he messes up during five years of probation.

Heath took that recommendation.

“There’s no doubt that Mr. Lorusso is a respected member of our community,” Heath said. “However, the decision he made that night, back six or seven years ago, was something that was very selfish and was devastating to a young girl.”

Heath ordered Lorusso to report to prison in October.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.