79-year-old Fall River man sentenced to prison for raping and indecently assaulting young family members

A 79-year-old Fall River man who was convicted by a jury of his peers last month for raping and indecently assaulting young family members after an eight-day trial in Fall River Superior Court was sentenced to serve 10 years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

In late August, the jury convicted Seth Sang of two counts of rape of a child, four counts of indecent assault and battery on a person under the age of 14 and one count of assault with intent to rape.

“I am very pleased the jury held the defendant accountable for abusing his own relatives. The conduct of the defendant was extremely disturbing and a breach of trust,” District Attorney Quinn said. “I commend the victims for reporting the abuse under difficult circumstances and for persevering through this very difficult ordeal.”

In the first case, Sang was convicted of raping, indecently assaulting and assaulting with intent to rape his young female family member on diverse dates between 2005 and 2011 when the girl was between the ages of six and 12 years old. The abuse included Sang touching his granddaughter on her breast and vagina with his hands both over and under her clothes; forcing the child’s hand on his penis; digitally penetrating the child’s vagina with his penis; orally penetrating the child’s vagina with his tongue; and one attempt at putting his penis in the child’s vagina. The victim initially disclosed the abuse to a friend in 2014 but swore the friend to secrecy. She eventually disclosed the abuse she suffered to the Department of Child and Family Services in 2017.

In the second case, Sang was convicted of indecent assaulting another of his young female relatives. This victim disclosed the abuse she suffered to the first victim in 2018. While the first victim’s case was pending, she notified a victim witness advocate from the district attorney’s office of the second victim’s disclosure, which resulted in a separate investigation that eventually led to further criminal charges. The two cases were joined together for trial.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney MaryClare Flynn. Judge Daniel O’Shea sentenced the defendant to serve 10 years to 10 years and one day in state prison, to be followed by two years of supervised probation.