UPDATED: Putnam D.A.’s Live-in Personal Trainer Charged with Rape of 12-year-old Girl
The live-in personal trainer of Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy was arrested yesterday and was charged with “forcibly and violently” raping a 12-year-old girl, multiple sources from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office confirmed today.
Alexandru Ionut Hossu, a 35-year-old Southeast resident, was arrested shortly before midnight Wednesday and arraigned in Patterson Justice Court on a charge of first-degree rape, a class B felony.
He is being held without bail at the Putnam County Jail in Carmel. He’s due in Southeast Town Court on April 2.
“Adam Levy, Putnam County D.A., requested that the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office handle this case only to the fact that Mr. Levy knew this person arrest,” said Levy’s confidential assistant Laurie Mainey. “Beyond that there is no further comment.”
The complaint alleges that the defendant forcibly raped the victim twice on Oct. 24, 2010, when she was 12 years old. The case came to the attention of authorities only recently, after the victim reported the alleged rape to a school counselor. The victim, who is now 15, and the defendant reportedly knew each other.
Hossu has been identified as a Romanian national. Investigators have determined that the defendant is in the United States unlawfully, having entered the country on a temporary work visa that expired about 12 years ago. He reportedly has been working in the Putnam County area as a personal fitness trainer for several years.
The defendant was arraigned before Patterson Town Justice Anthony Mole, who ordered him remanded to the Putnam County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 cash bailor $100,000 bail bond.
The judge also ordered the defendant to surrender his passport. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have lodged a detainer warrant for Mr. Hossu with the Correctional Facility for potential immigration proceedings.
The Sheriff’s Office investigated the case in conjunction with caseworkers from the Putnam County Child Advocacy Center (“CAC”) and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, as a conflict precluded the Putnam County District Attorney’s Office from involvement in the investigation.
“This was a vicious crime committed against a little girl,” Putnam Sheriff Don Smith said. “I thank our sheriff’s investigators and deputies, the Child Advocacy Center team and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance in bringing the alleged perpetrator to justice.”
Levy, who ran unopposed in 2011, was first elected as Putnam D.A. in 2007. Levy has run on a platform of being tough on child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence.
Prior to being the county D.A., Levy practiced law in Carmel and was the former president of the Putnam County Bar Association. He was also an assistant district attorney for Suffolk County.
Levy is the son of Judy Sheindlin, who is more commonly known as TV personality, Judge Judy.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
