Long Island Man Gets 125 Years For 'Heinous' Home Invasions, Rape Of Teen: DA

RIVERSIDE, NY — A Bellport man was sentenced to 125 years to life in prison in connection with burglarizing four homes, raping a teen inside one of them, and then trying to rape a woman at another home over a month-long spree in the summer of 2021, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said Thursday.

During one of the incidents he was free on bail and a GPS ankle bracelet that he was not charging so he could not be tracked, according to prosecutors.

Eric Freeman, 48, broke into four homes occupied by women, and then beginning on June 22, he went inside a Bay Shore home where a 16-year-old girl was inside alone, sexually assaulted her, threatened to kill her when she screamed for help, and fled, prosecutors said.

On June 25, Freeman tried to go inside and burglarize a home in Bellport while harassing a woman who was inside, under the pretense that he was looking for water, and a week later, on July 1, he returned to the same home, went inside and tried to rape a different woman who was living alone in a small apartment attached to the main house, according to prosecutors.

Freeman obstructed the woman’s breathing by choking her and sexually assaulted her as she attempted to thwart the attack by offering him money, prosecutors said, adding that three days later, on July 4, Freeman again returned to the woman’s home but was unable to get inside.

On July 12, Freeman went inside another Bellport home while a mother and her 11-year-old son were inside and stole money and other personal items from the home, prosecutors said.
Freeman was arrested by Suffolk police later that day and was found with several stolen items in his pockets, according to prosecutors.

“The heinous actions of this serial burglar and rapist who preyed on innocent victims in the sanctity of their homes was proven during trial, and today, he was justly sentenced to life in prison,” Tierney said. “Our community is safer now that this violent offender is locked up. I
thank the courageous victims for testifying here. This defendant should never have been on the street to victimize them in the first place.”

When he was arraigned on those charges, the Suffolk DA's office requested that bail be set at $75,000 cash, $150,000 bond, or $750,000 partially secured bond, however, at his arraignment the judge released Freeman on his own recognizance and ordered that he wear a GPS ankle
monitor.

It was later determined that Freeman, despite having the ankle monitor, did not charge it so his location could not be tracked, prosecutors said.

On July 16, Freeman illegally entered a Huntington Station home where a woman was home with her seven-year-old daughter, and while inside, he stole money and choked her in front of her child, according to prosecutors.

Freeman fled the home after the mother and child began screaming and banging on the walls to an adjoining apartment, prosecutors said, adding that Freeman was arrested by police shortly thereafter.

In November 2023, while he was being held in jail for these charges, Freeman was indicted for second-degree conspiracy for allegedly attempting to smuggle fentanyl into the correctional facility through his unsuspecting defense attorney, according to prosecutors.

That case is still pending, prosecutors said.

Before the crimes, Freeman was determined to be a Level Three sex offender stemming from a 1990 juvenile offense conviction. He was later convicted of failing to register as a sex offender in June 2021, and at the time that the instant crimes were committed, he was out of custody and
ordered by a judge to be released on his own recognizance while pending sentence on that case.

On Feb. 9, Freeman was convicted of first-degree burglary, rape, criminal sexual act, and attempted rape.

He was additionally convicted of burglary, attempted burglary, assault, sexual abuse, second-degree criminal sexual act, third-degree rape, and criminal obstruction of breathing, endangering the welfare of a child, second-degree harassment, and third-degree criminal trespass.

His lead defense attorney, John Halverson of Patchogue, could not be reached for comment.

Halverson's co-counsel, Christopher Gioe of Hauppauge, declined comment.