Our Time PressThe Local Paper with the Global View

By Mary Alice Miller
“We have a problem with keeping our women safe,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez at a 58 AD Public Safety Taskforce hosted by Assemblywoman Monique Chandler-Waterman.
“Domestic violence and sexual violence are the number one cases” that his office deals with said DA Gonzalez. “We hear a lot about other crimes impacting the community. We don’t deal with this issue of gender-based violence enough in our communities.”
The Brooklyn district attorney’s office prosecutes more than 10,000 domestic and sexual violence per year, often women who came forward to say that they were the victims of gender-based violence and sex trafficking.

“Anyone in this field will tell you it takes a woman five, six, seven incidents before they finally come forward and report, on average,” said Gonzalez. “It’s under-enforced, under-prosecuted, under-resourced. We need to start having conversations, especially with our ‘cure violence’ folks.”
He added, “We must do better to protect our women and communities. This is a problem in our community. We must start working as groups, not only to prevent and stop gun violence but to prevent domestic violence.”

Gun offenders often have a domestic violence history.
“When I look at the men in our office in jail for gun cases, about 40-50% of them within three years before that arrest they were involved in a domestic violence case, or they grew up in a family that had violence in that family,” the district attorney said. “The trigger to gun violence is domestic violence.”

Funding for domestic violence services is an issue.
“My funding comes from the City of New York – the City Council and the Mayor’s Office,” said DA Gonzalez. “We don’t get our fair share. Of the five counties, we rank 4 out of 5 in the resources we get from the City of New York.”
Nevertheless, DA Gonzalez said, “My job is to keep the community safe, but my purpose is to be a public servant. It’s about providing young people with the opportunity for success.”
The issue of domestic violence is persistent.

In October 2022, DA Gonzalez created a Gender-Based Violence Division, which includes the Domestic Violence and Sex Crimes Bureaus, the Human Trafficking, Crimes Against Children and Victim Services Unit, and the Family Justice Center. Assistant District Attorney Michelle Kaminsky, who previously served as Chief of the Domestic Violence Bureau, leads the Division.
“You could be a victim of trafficking, and your trafficker could also be the person you are in a relationship with who is sexually assaulting you,” said Kaminsky at the announcement of the Division.

A team of 100 assistant district attorneys staff the bureau focused on sex crimes, sex trafficking, and domestic violence, complemented by social workers and victim services advocates.
“Often the immediate need of the victim is not the prosecution of the case but to get assistance, to get the abuse to stop,” said DA Gonzalez. “They often need assistance with housing, family court, and other things. We put the needs of our survivors first.”

2024: Only the First Five Months
During the first five months of 2024, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office prosecuted numerous horrific incidents of domestic violence and sex trafficking. A review of press releases for 2024 had the following examples of DV/sexual assault.
Crown Heights woman, age 50, was sentenced to 15 years for beating her 9-year-old daughter to death.
Stuyvesant Heights man, age 23, was sentenced to 20 years for shooting an NYPD officer responding to a domestic violence call.
Park Slope man, age 62, sentenced to seven years for repeatedly sexually assaulting a young girl when she was between the ages of 9 and 11.
Flushing, Queens man, age 59, who taught math at East New York middle school, was indicted for sexual abuse of two students.
Bronx man, age 33, sentenced to 18 years to life for shooting romantic rival inside ex-girlfriend’s home in Dyker Heights.
East New York woman, age 33, indicted for allegedly running over another woman, age 24, intentionally killing her.
East New York husband and wife were indicted for sex trafficking of a child, age 15.
A 40-year-old Park Slope man was sentenced to 20 years for sexually assaulting two teenage girls in his apartment after giving them drugs.
32-year-old Brownsville man was sentenced to 20 years for the shooting and killing of a 34-year-old romantic rival during an argument at his ex-girlfriend’s apartment.
A 28-year-old Crown Heights man was sentenced to 15 years to life for sexually assaulting two women in Prospect Park.
Flatbush man, age 45, was indicted for allegedly killing an acquaintance, dismembering the victim’s body, and storing it in a refrigerator. Defendant’s wife, 39, was indicted for concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence.
East Flatbush man, age 29, was indicted for the murder of a neighbor’s three-year-old son.
A 33-year-old Crown Heights man was indicted for felony assault for allegedly punching a 57-year-old woman in the face unexpectedly and with no provocation, breaking her jaw.
A 26-year-old Bed Stuy man pled guilty to second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to up to 10 years for fatally injuring his girlfriend’s 4-month-old daughter.
Recently, a 24-year-old Crown Heights man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for fatally shooting a teenage girl at a party in East New York after she rejected his advances.