Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a South Setauket man pleaded guilty today to Assault in the First Degree for the repeated abuse of his five-week-old son in January 2024 that caused a subdural hematoma to the baby’s brain that required life-saving surgical intervention.
Vincent Distasi, 33, pleaded guilty today in Suffolk County Court before Judge Richard Ambro to Assault in the First Degree (a B violent felony) in satisfaction of the indictment.
The defendant is expected to receive 17 years in prison and five years post release supervision when he is sentenced. NCDA recommended a sentence of 19 years in prison. Distasi is due back in court on August 4, 2025.
The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office was designated as special prosecutor on this case.
“Vicent Distasi is a sick and angry man who repeatedly beat up on his five-week-old son, filling that child’s first weeks on this earth with pain and violence,” said DA Donnelly. “When Distasi’s shocking, repeated abuse culminated in a near-fatal brain injury to his son and a trip to the emergency room, doctors horrifyingly discovered additional injuries, some already in the stages of healing, that told the full story of the disgusting abuse that this baby endured at the hands of his own father. To this day, the child – now one and a half years old – continues to have medical complications and recently underwent another surgery on his skull to drain fluid in his brain. While he survived his father’s brutal attack, the child’s quality of life remains uncertain. But what is certain is that Distasi will spend nearly two decades in prison for his crimes and will never be a danger to his son again.”
DA Donnelly said that on January 21, 2024, at approximately 3:30 p.m., the five-week-old son of defendant Vincent Distasi was rushed to Stony Brook University Hospital unresponsive and required emergency brain surgery.
Doctors later determined the child suffered from multiple injuries, including rib fractures, fractures to both arms, and a subdural hematoma to his brain, among other acute injuries.
The infant’s injuries were in various stages of healing indicating that the child had suffered prolonged abuse.
As part of the criminal investigation, Ring video footage was secured from the Distasi home that recorded the family’s living room.
Review of the footage showed the defendant abusing the infant throughout the first five weeks of his life.
The video showed the defendant tossing, punching, smacking, and smothering the child over the course of weeks.
On January 21, 2024, the defendant violently shook the infant, causing the injuries that resulted in the child’s emergency surgery.
The defendant was arrested on January 29, 2024, outside of Stony Brook University Hospital by members of the Suffolk County Police Department’s 6th Precinct and Special Victims Section.
The case is being prosecuted by Bureau Chief Emma Slane and Deputy Bureau Chief Laura Dorfman of the Special Victims Bureau under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Litigation Division Kevin Higgins. The defendant is represented by Anthony LaPinta, Esq.