A Brooklyn man who admitted to raping four teenage girls, including two 16-year-old cousins, has been given no prison time and has been allowed to move to South Carolina where he is awaiting a one-year renewal of his conditional discharge.
Adam Stern was arrested in 2015 for his role in the sexual abuse of four teenage girls and sentenced last year to 30 years to life in prison.
Now he is back home, living with his father, teaching school, and waiting for one more one-year renewal of his conditional discharge after pleading guilty to two counts of statutory rape in October.
“What I did is terrible, you know, it’s just terrible,” he told the Daily News in 2017. “I hurt the wrong people.”
In all, he pleaded guilty to rape, sex abuse, two counts of disseminating harmful materials, and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Stern was out on bail and visited his 15-year-old accuser a number of times, according to the Daily News. Stern had access to her house, where they had sex, and she claimed she told him of her sexual interest in teens.
“I liked older guys, I could get attracted to them,” she said, according to the Daily News. “They’re in a position of power over me, they’re in a position of trust. I trusted him.”
“It’s sad that [Stern’s] sort of become this role model to his fellow defendants,” District Attorney Eric Gonzalez told The Daily News. “I don’t see him as a role model for younger youth.”
He added that he did not believe the changes his office worked on at the time would have changed things for the worse.
“I don’t think the changes had anything to do with what Adam Stern did,” Gonzalez said. “But I do believe those changes have affected the offenders more in how he did it.”
Under the 2013 Safe Harbor reform, 17-year-olds can no longer be tried as adults, but must be tried as youthful offenders.
In 2012, Stern was working in a nursery school when he was arrested. They called police after one of his pupils reported that Stern had had sex with her after she made sexual advances. Another girl reported that Stern had had sex with her at least eight times.
In 2015, an anonymous tip led police to his mother’s house, where they found three more victims. Another 16-year-old girl told police that Stern had molested her while she was on the verge of turning 16.
Two cousins told investigators that Stern had had sex with them when they were 16, but didn’t go to the police because they thought they were alone in the abuse.
Stern must remain under supervised release for one year, and he was forced to attend a sex offender unit at Fulton County Jail to avoid other potential victims. The program is similar to the Witness Protection Program.
He has also been banned from communicating with his victims.
“I’m not stalking him, I’m not stalking her,” he said, in reference to his new address. “I’m not out there trying to cause any harm or harm to anybody.”
Stern will be restricted to drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, and owning any firearms. He is required to stay away from all girls younger than 15 and cannot travel without his father’s consent.
Click for more from The Daily News.