A Manhattan maid who was repeatedly raped by a sicko building superintendent fainted in court Monday as a prosecutor read her excruciating victim-impact statement about the “monster.”
The victim — who was blackmailed at one point with naked photos of her special-needs child — crashed to the floor while standing at a lectern in Manhattan Supreme Court as the prosecutor read her statement.
In her letter to the court, the woman, an illegal migrant from Paraguay, detailed the torture she suffered from Jose Espinoza, a dad of three who ended up sentenced to 22 years in prison Monday after being found guilty of rape for his years-long campaign of terror.
“Because of this bastard, I’m struggling to continue with my life normally,” the middle-aged mom said in her statement, which was read by Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Jonathon Junig.
The victim’s eyes then suddenly rolled back, and she lost her balance before collapsing to the floor.
The chaotic scene, which lasted nearly 10 minutes, unfolded just before Espinoza, 62, was sentenced after being convicted at trial in December of rape, labor trafficking and other charges in the case.
The victim eventually came around from her fainting spell and sat in the first row as the prosecutor finished reading her letter, which revealed her mental struggles from the attacks that had “broke [her] into a thousand pieces.
“For many years, I suffered hell for no reason at all. He destroyed my life and my innocent family,” the woman said in her letter to Judge Felicia Mennin, begging her to show no mercy when sentencing the rapist.
Espinoza met his victim, a mother of an autistic child, in August 2017 and offered her money in exchange for sex if she agreed to clean apartments in the Flatiron apartment building where he served as the super.
But when the woman wanted to stop the arrangement a year later, Espinoza grew irate and started physically beating her, took her passport and tracked her whereabouts as his power trip escalated, prosecutors have said.
He also blackmailed her into silence by demanding naked photographs of her special needs child — and then threatened to share the images if the woman ever spoke out.
Espinoza went as far as forcing the victim to have sex with him in front of her daughter at least once, prosecutors have said.
“Don’t be fooled by this monster, your Honor,” the victim warned in her statement. “He isn’t a human being. … He likes to make people suffer, and he enjoys it. And I assure you, he will never change.”
Espinoza’s deviant scheme — which included having the victim live with his wife and one of his daughters — was foiled by the spring of 2022 when the woman was diagnosed with breast cancer and told a social worker at Bellevue Hospital about her years of abuse.
His six-year sex terror plot came to an end when he was arrested in December 2023.
Espinoza denied being a rapist while admitting he made some “very bad, terrible mistakes” as he apologized to his family in the courtroom.
The judge, who received more than a dozen letters from Espinoza’s family and friends on his behalf, said she believed that his family was “clearly deluded” into believing the father was a good man — and that his wife’s continued support was baffling.
“Good family men do not cheat on their wives, enslave other women, install them in their homes where they can exercise ultimate control over them and rape them,” the judge seethed.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement, “Jose Espinoza committed horrific acts of rape and sexual abuse all while forcing this survivor to clean apartments in his building.
“I thank this survivor for her incredibly brave decision to come forward, testify at trial, and speak at Espinoza’s sentencing today.”
