LEWISTON, N.Y. — After six years, the criminal case of the Lewiston Party House came to a close Tuesday.
The third of three defendants, Gary Sullo, was sentenced to three years probation, becoming the third person to avoid jail time in this case.
Sullo took a plea deal back in September, admitting to supplying alcohol and marijuana to teenage girls during a series of house parties that took place at this Mountain View Drive home in Lewiston between 2017 and 2018. He did so alongside his late wife Tricia Vacanti and neighbor Jessica Long in an effort to groom those teenage girls to be raped by his 17-year-old stepson Christopher Belter.
Belter sexually abused four teenage girls and was sentenced to eight years of sex offender probation in November 2021.
After Tuesday’s sentencing, 2 On Your Side spoke with one of the victims, Mara Moore, who was 16 when Belter raped her. We asked her if she felt justice was served.
“No, not at all. But I'm not surprised. I saw it coming,” she said. “This case has taken over the past five years of my life. I went through the math. It's over 25% of my life. And I have gotten no justice from any of it. There's been no accountability taken for any of it. I'm the one suffering from the things that these people have done, just because they have money.”
Long also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months of interim probation in January. Vacanti was originally charged with 41 counts of unlawfully dealing with a minor and endangering the welfare of a child, but she unexpectedly died on July 3, 2022, and the charges against her were abated.
2 On Your Side was unable to speak with Sullo’s attorney following the sentencing. Moore also shared a statement she read in court. Here is an excerpt:
Saying the words ‘I was a victim’ makes me sick.
But it’s the truth. And now I’m stuck with that title. It’s a big part of who I am.
I am a victim.
A victim of Christopher Belter.
A victim of Tricia Vacanti.
A victim of Gary Sullo.
A victim of Jessica Long.
While the criminal case has ended, the civil suit is underway and in the discovery phase. Moore said she feels that’s the only option she has left.
“I don't care about money, but it's the only thing that's going to hurt them,” she said. “That's the only thing they care about, and that's what I can take from them. That's the only thing I can do.”
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