East Hampton Man Pleads Guilty in Rape Case

Kleber A. Sigcha, who was , took a plea deal in Suffolk County Criminal Court on Tuesday. 

Sigcha, a 33-year-old who was living in East Hampton, reversed his initial not guilty plea on one count of second-degree rape. 

Awaiting sentencing on June 29, he continues to be held at the Suffolk County jail in Riverside on $150,000 bond and $50,000 cash. There is a detainer from the Immigration Customs Enforcement Bureau for him, as well.

Robert Clifford, a district attorney spokesman, did not immediately return a request for comment. 

According to the New York State Penal Code, a person is guilty of rape in the second degree if they are more than 18 years old and engages in sexual intercourse with another person less than 15 years old or he or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person who is incapable of consent by reason of being mentally disabled or mentally incapacitated. The age of consent in New York is 17.

Officer Mario Julio Galeano was on patrol on the night of Jan. 24, when on the boarder of Wainscott, near the edge of the village police jurisdiction. He approached the 2002 Ford Ecoline van, parked on Old Montauk Highway, just north of Route 27, at about 8:15 p.m. and allegedly caught Sigcha having sexual intercourse with the victim. 

 for his efforts in the case earlier this month.

The victim was never identified as male or female. State law protects a rape victim's identity. 

Town police were called to the scene, arrested Sigcha on the rape charge, and interviewed the victim. Sigcha denied that anything sexual had occurred, according to his arrest report.

On Feb. 2, Judge Barbara Kahn arraigned him on two counts of second-degree rape, sex abuse, and child endangerment, following a grand jury indictment. Town Police Detective Lt. Chris Anderson said the charges were all relative to the same victim.

According to court records, a DNA test was ordered on March 9 and a motion to dismiss the case was denied on March 13. 

Sigcha's attorney  of East Hampton was not immediately available for comment.