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A Hicksville woman pleaded guilty to three counts of rape and sex abuse Wednesday, for having intercourse with a legally blind 11-year-old boy she tutored.
Kathy Tuifel, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree rape and two counts of second-degree sex abuse before Judge Jeffrey Brown in Nassau County Court in Mineola.
She had faced three counts of first-degree rape and could have been sentenced 5 to 25 years on each count had she been convicted at trial. Instead, the judge said she will spend no more than six months in jail with 10 years of probation.
Tuifel was arrested in March 2002 after the boy came forward. Jury selection in the case began on Monday. The boy's family, however, had urged the prosecution to accept a plea from Tuifel, to spare the student from having to testify, prosecutor Joy Watson said.
"We felt the best interest of the child victim here was paramount and the family wished for a plea as opposed to him having to testify," she said
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