DMV worker indicted in New Rochelle, Yorktown groping cases
The Westchester County District Attorney's Office took the unusual step Friday of bringing an indictment against a st...
DMV worker indicted in New Rochelle, Yorktown groping cases The Westchester County District Attorney's Office took the unusual step Friday of bringing an indictment against a st... Check out this story on lohud.com: http://lohud.us/1nh0ivc
By Terence Corcoran; Published 9:24 p.m. ET Feb. 9, 2014
The Westchester County District Attorney's Office took the unusual step Friday of bringing an indictment against a state Department of Motor Vehicles employee accused of groping two women taking road tests.
Jean R. Almonacy, 55, of Hempstead, Long Island, was arrested by New Rochelle police in September after being accused of fondling a 21-year-old Yonkers woman during an Aug. 30 road test in New Rochelle.
He is also accused of groping a Hawthorne woman twice during a Sept. 3 road test in Yorktown.
Usually, indictments are handed up only in felony cases.
But after Almonacy, who insists he's innocent, declined to take a plea deal, the District Attorney's Office moved for the indictment, which combines the charges from the two local courts into one that will be handled in County Court.
It charges Almonacy with two counts each of forcible touching and third-degree sexual abuse, misdemeanors.
A spokesman for the district attorney declined to comment on the strategy.
"My client adamantly maintains his innocence," his attorney, Kirsten Bennett O'Rourke said Friday. "My client and I have great faith in the criminal justice system."
Almonacy entered not guilty pleas to the charges.
He remains free and is due back in court in a few weeks for a conference.
The 20-year veteran of the DMV is suspended from his job without pay.
Twitter: @CorcoranTerence
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