{"id":350594,"date":"2026-09-18T22:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T22:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/350594\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T22:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T22:04:12","slug":"bronx-rapist-convicted-with-genetic-genealogy-technique-sentenced-to-25-years-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/350594\/","title":{"rendered":"Bronx rapist convicted with genetic genealogy technique sentenced to 25 years in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Bronx judge gave 25 more years of jail time to a man convicted of a second rape, this time after prosecutors, for the first time in New York State, used investigative genetic genealogy<\/a> to prove to a jury that he committed the two-decades-old crime.<\/p>\n

Jancys Santiago, 51, was already serving more than 20 years on a prior rape conviction in Manhattan. On Friday, the one question remaining in a Bronx courtroom was whether the new sentence would run concurrently or consecutively.<\/p>\n

The judge nearly doubled his time in prison, almost guaranteeing that he would spend the rest of his life behind bars.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween the rapes, you thought about how to do it better, how to cover your face, how to not leave fingerprints and how to potentially remove any DNA,\u201d Judge Laurence Busching said in court. \u201cAll this causes me to impose a sentence that is commensurate with the damage you caused and the risk you represent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KatyKaty Vicchirro gives a victim impact statement in a Bronx Supreme Court room during the sentencing of Jancys Santiago on Friday, Sept. 17, 2026, in the Bronx. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Authorities eventually caught up with Santiago nearly 25 years after he sexually assaulted college student Katy Vicchitto inside her Bronx apartment on December 13, 2001, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems fair that he will wake up every day with no escape from the reality of his actions,\u201d Vicchitto said in a statement before the sentencing. \u201cI can\u2019t think of a day when what happened to me hasn\u2019t crossed my mind at least once.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a chance to demand real accountability and justice for a crime that so often goes unpunished, or even unreported,\u201d she told the judge.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Santiago broke into the then 21-year-old Vicchitto\u2019s apartment while she was asleep. He threatened her, covered her face, bound her wrists and ankles with wire hangers and then raped her.<\/p>\n

Investigators ultimately matched semen recovered at the scene to DNA recovered from an unsolved rape in Manhattan from 2000.<\/p>\n

But, by then, Santiago had already gone on with his life, moving to Florida and having a family of his own while Vicchitto dealt for decades with the emotional scars, officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time the lights go out, every time she hears a noise when she is in her own home, she is forced to relive the terror,\u201d Bronx Assistant District Attorney Gabrielle Martin-Klein said about Vicchitto as she addressed Judge Busching. \u201cHe gave her a lifetime sentence of fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis level of premeditation requires a specific kind of malice,\u201d she added about the defendant. \u201cIt requires a man who can sit, plan, and systematically strip another human being of her security, of her dignity, and her bodily autonomy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark<\/a> called the sentencing a \u201clong-awaited day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision is more than twenty years in the making,\u201d she said at a press conference after the sentencing. \u201cI am relieved that the sentence holds Santiago accountable, ensuring that he will be in prison and unable to harm other women.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JancysJancys Santiago is pictured in a Bronx Supreme Court room during his sentencing for the rape of Katy Vicchitto Friday, Sept. 17, 2026, in the Bronx. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Santiago, Clark said, is the first person to be convicted by a jury in New York State because of the use of investigative genetic genealogy.<\/p>\n

Thanks to a $500,000 U.S. Department of Justice<\/a> grant in 2023, Bronx prosecutors got some help in their work tackling cold cases.<\/p>\n

The genetic genealogy technique involves taking crime scene evidence to develop a profile that is used to search consumer DNA databases for genetic relatives who consented to assist law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\"KatyKaty Vicchirro hugs Sarah Canavan-Clarke (back to camera) outside a Bronx Supreme Court room after the sentencing of Jancys Santiago on Friday, Sept. 17, 2026 in the Bronx. Both women are survivors of being raped by Santiago. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Using a suspect\u2019s DNA recovered from the rape kits, a family tree can be developed to help identify a suspect like Santiago, who was arrested in 2023.<\/p>\n

Two years later, he was convicted in Manhattan following a bench trial on charges of first-degree rape and first-degree burglary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to investigators who did not give up and advancements in forensic science, the case was ultimately solved,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n

On December 10, 2025, Santiago was sentenced to 20 years in prison on the separate rape case involving a Manhattan woman. The 25-year sentence imposed on Friday will be added to that time.<\/p>\n

\"KatyKaty Vicchirro (far left), holds the hand of Bronx ADA Gabrielle Martin-Klein as Bronx DA Darcel Clark speaks during a press following the sentencing of Jancys Santiago Friday, Sept. 17, 2026 in the Bronx. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Santiago\u2019s Manhattan victim, Sarah Clark, spoke at the press conference following the sentencing and praised the new DNA technology that linked her attacker to the crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this is only the beginning,\u201d she said about the genetic genealogy technique. \u201cOne down, hopefully thousands more to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santiago\u2019s attorney, Michael Croce, said his client still maintained his innocence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe denies any culpability in this case,\u201d Croce told Judge Busching. \u201cThere\u2019s no eyewitness identification in this case. The ID in this case is the DNA evidence. There have been scientific tests in the past that have led us down a path which may not be as reliable as we believe. The defendant is sitting here based on a brand new forensic tool in its infancy in the criminal justice system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JancysJancys Santiago is pictured in a Bronx Supreme Court room during his sentencing for the rape of Katy Vicchitto Friday, Sept. 17, 2026, in the Bronx. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Croce said Santiago would appeal the conviction. For the last two decades, his client had lived a law-abiding life with his wife and family in Florida, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Santiago raised his children with his wife. They moved to Florida. He was working,\u201d Croce said. \u201cFor 22 years, Mr. Santiago was never a blip on the radar. No arrests. No convictions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santiago\u2019s wife and family, who were in the gallery, did not speak to reporters following the sentencing.<\/p>\n

Despite the defendant\u2019s apparent squeaky-clean life, ADA Martin-Klein implored the judge not to give Santiago a second chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime did not erase what he did,\u201d Martin-Klein said. \u201cMuch of the good character in the defendant\u2019s life was built upon the life that he got to live after that morning after committing that heinous crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKaty Vicchitto does not get a second chance at the life that she had before December 13, 2001,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The sentencing came on the same day that a man was arrested in his Brooklyn home for a separate rape case detectives had put together using familial DNA.<\/a><\/p>\n

Cops said William Stephens, 55, who has no criminal record, was charged with raping a woman on a rooftop in Brooklyn 31 years ago, officials said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Bronx judge gave 25 more years of jail time to a man convicted of a second rape,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,262,263,266,85,267,9,24,264,12,63,261,265,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-350594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-city","tag-county","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-county","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-crime","tag-sub-county-region","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}