By Shirley Lew, AsAmNews Staff Writer
Prosecutors arraigned a 27-year-old tennis instructor in Freehold, New Jersey on 47 counts of kidnapping, sexual assault and child pornography Monday in Monmouth County Criminal Court.
Terry Kuo, aka Victor Lee, is now facing a 47 count indictment, up from 15 in 2018. Among the new charges are three counts of first-degree kidnapping and two counts of first-degree aggravated assault.
His mother, Lynn Kuo, told AsAmNews she knew one of the tennis students and her grandmother. She can’t understand why they would accuse her son for these alleged acts. She and her husband, George, visit their son once week.
Police arrested Kuo in 2018 after one of his tennis students accused him of sexual assault during the summer and fall of 2017.
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His lawyer, Richard Incremona, described his client as doing fine. Incremona is Kuo’s third lawyer. Mr. and Mrs. Kuo’s home is in foreclosure and they sold their belongings to pay for the defense. They also moved into a smaller apartment.
Mr. Kuo repairs computers at a flea market and his wife work a home care attendant at a nursing home.
“The prosecutors said this is a ‘complex case” in the courtroom. What do they mean? “, I asked Incremona.
“We are looking forward to seeing how things develop as there is more to this case than meets the eye,” Incremona said. The state only has a certain amount of time to prosecute. Time isn’t up yet, but expiring soon.
In NJ, cash bail has been eliminated, leaving it up to the judge to decide if defendants should be in jail or released until their trial. Kuo has been in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold, NJ since his arrest.
Two officers led Kuo into the courtroom. He was wearing a green jumpsuit. His hands and ankles were shackled. He gave his parents a smile and nod.
Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Ryan Lavender and Joshua Detzky, refused any questions and referred me to the public information officer.
I asked Mrs. Kuo how it felt seeing her son in the courtroom after the arraignment. She replied, “He is good, he is strong. I feel good. We are good. We need to fight. We are Chinese, but we need to fight.”
Kuo will appear in court again for the initial disposition hearing on January 22.
If he is convicted of first degree kidnapping or first-degree sexual assault, he could face life imprisonment.
These are the 47 charges Kuo is facing, which could lead to life in imprisonment.
- Three counts of first-degree kidnapping,
- Two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault,
- One count of second-degree attempted aggravated sexual assault,
- Six counts of second-degree sexual assault,
- Two counts of second-degree attempted sexual assault,
- Four counts of first-degree causing or permitting a child to engage in child pornography,
- Four counts of second-degree manufacturing child pornography,
- Five counts of third-degree possession of child pornography,
- Two counts of fourth-degree lewdness,
- Three counts of third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact,
- Eight counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact,
- One count of fourth-degree stalking,
- Three counts of third-degree child endangerment,
- Two counts of third-degree obscenity,
- One count of fourth-degree conspiracy to tamper with physical evidence.
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