Derrick Clancy convicted of sexually assaulting women during burglaries

A man who broke into the homes of two elderly women in Mastic Beach and sexually assaulted them was sentenced to 22 years to life in prison on Friday.

Derrick Clancy, 43, who authorities said was homeless, quoted the Bible and insisted to Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis outside the Riverhead court that he regretted the attacks.

“I hate what I did,” he said. “I hate what I did to those innocent women in their homes.”

But one of the victims made a statement in court in which she sharply attacked Clancy.

“Derrick Clancy, you are a pathetic excuse for a man,” the woman said. “You are a disgrace to humanity.”

She described how she fought back against him despite being a senior citizen. “I, a 75-year-old woman, defeated you,” she said.

After the verdict was announced, the victim said she was disappointed and would have liked an even harsher sentence. The prosecution had demanded 25 years to life imprisonment.

At 4 a.m. on October 10, according to prosecutors, Clancy cut a hole in a window screen to get into the home of a 78-year-old woman. Claiming he had a knife, he physically and sexually abused her and fled after she pressed an emergency button.

A week later, at 12:40 a.m. on Oct. 17, he climbed through a window into the home of another woman who lived just blocks away, authorities said. He also abused her before fleeing, prosecutors said. Both women were treated at a hospital after the attacks.

Police arrested Clancy four days later, on October 21. Clancy was identified as a suspect after investigators compared his DNA to a sample taken from a window in one of the homes. He had previously been convicted of sexual abuse in 2000 and a robbery in 2011, for which he was still on probation.

On April 30, he pleaded guilty to several counts in the Mastic Beach cases: two counts of first-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, two counts of second-degree assault and two counts of criminal obstruction of breathing or circulation.

“Breaking into the homes of elderly women and sexually assaulting them is absolutely reprehensible,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement Friday. “My office will continue to vigorously pursue justice for our most vulnerable citizens and ensure that those who exploit them face the full consequences of their actions.”

The first victim since the attack has died, prosecutors said on Friday.

Wilutis told Clancy that his expressions of remorse and admission of his crime were “a first step,” but she also said he had “taken advantage of older women” as she handed down his sentence.

This was followed by two competing accounts presented by Clancy along with the victim and the granddaughter of the other victim, who died in May.

“I will never say that sexual abuse of any kind is okay, but the sexual abuse of an older woman, a grandmother, my grandmother, is something completely different than sick,” the granddaughter said.

When she finished, the judge said to her, “Your grandmother is very proud of you.”

The victim stated in court that years in prison for other sex crimes had not changed Clancy.

“Your suffering should not end with your release from prison or with your death – whichever comes first,” she said. “After you rot in prison for the rest of your worthless life, I condemn what is left of your evil soul to burn in the fiery furnace of hell for all eternity. May God forsake you. May you never find peace.”

Clancy argued that a disastrous childhood prepared him for a life of crime as an adult.

“I’m so ashamed,” he said. “I’m not just sorry. I regret it.”