A Painter Was Convicted of Raping 11-Year-Old Girl. Here's Why He Just Got Years Added to His Sentence By Samira Asma-Sadeque

A New York man who was slated to spend 17 years behind bars for the 2024 rape of an 11-year-old child will now serve 20 years for the crime.

Anselmo Yambay Pena, 61, raped the young girl on Feb. 15, 2024, when he was hired to do a paint job at the residential building where she lived with her family, the Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace said in a statement at the time.

He raped the child inside the family’s apartment, Cacace alleged.

According to a criminal complaint cited in her 2024 statement, the child’s parent reached out to the Peekskill Police Department upon learning about the incident. Following an investigation, Peekskill police arrested Pena for first-degree rape in September of that year.

A year after his arrest, in September 2025, Pena pleaded guilty to the charge in exchange for a 17-year sentence — as opposed to the maximum 25-year sentence the offense carries in the state.

However, Cacace’s office announced in January 2026 that a judge added three more years to the sentence because Pena did not meet one of the conditions of the plea agreement: to accept responsibility.

In a presentence investigation report cited by the Peekskill Herald, Pena denied the accusations and alleged to the probation officer that the victim’s mother and her boyfriend were trying to extort money from him.

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As a result, the judge said he was no longer bound by the promise of the agreement, and imposed an enhanced sentence of 20 years in prison followed by 20 years of post-release supervision, the updated statement said.

“The defendant’s refusal to accept responsibility for his grievous crimes only compounds the harms he committed and retraumatizes the victim in this case,” Cacace said, per the statement shared with PEOPLE. “Those who abuse defenseless children must be given penalties severe enough to deter future misconduct.”

Pena will also have to register as a sex offender.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.