A Chelsea man was convicted yesterday of raping a neighbor’s child in 2005 and 2006, was sentenced today to five years in state prison, and faces deportation upon his release, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

Suffolk Superior Court jurors found MARCO MONTANO (D.O.B. 12/26/79) guilty of two counts of statutory rape of a child and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child for the sexual abuse of his neighbor’s child starting when she was nine-years-old.

“These convictions came as a direct result of the young victim’s disclosure to trusted family members,” Conley said. “She took that brave first step, and it was her strength that allowed us to hold him accountable in court.”

Assistant District Attorney Dana Pierce, who tried the case, recommended that Montano serve two concurrent 8- to 12-year terms in state prison for the statutory rape charges, five years of probation for the indecent assault and battery charge, and a slew of strict conditions. Pierce also noted in court that Montano, who is a citizen of El Salvador, has an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detainer and is expected to be deported following the completion of his prison term.

Superior Court Judge Regina Quinlan sentenced Montano to serve two concurrent four- to five-year prison terms for the rapes; she adopted Pierce’s recommendation on the indecent assault and battery charge and some of her recommended conditions, ordering him to complete sex offender evaluation and treatment, to comply with sex offender registry laws, and to have no contact with the victim or her family.

“Too often in crimes against children, we see offenders who endear themselves to the young victim’s family in order to perpetrate their crimes without suspicion or detection by adults,” Conley said. “It’s the most grotesque form of betrayal.”

During the three-day trial, Pierce proved that beginning in late spring of 2005, the defendant – who was a friend and neighbor of the victim’s family – began complimenting the 9-year-old female victim’s appearance.

Near the end of the 2005 school year, Pierce showed, Montano asked the young girl if she wanted to “have something with him.” Soon, the defendant arranged for the girl to meet him secretly on the emergency stairwell at the rear of the apartment near his bedroom. His physical contact with her escalated and he raped her. Montano arranged these meetings when the victim’s mother was either out of the home or busy taking care of the victim’s siblings.

While most of the meetings occurred in the stairwell, on a separate occasion, Montano lured the young girl to his room when he knew her parents were not home. On that day, Montano approached the female victim while she was outside riding her bike and had her accompany him to his bedroom where he sexually assaulted her.

The sexual assaults continued almost once a week until shortly before the victim’s 11th birthday. The female victim first told her 17-year-old cousin about the incidents, and in 2006, told her mother, who notified authorities.

Eliany Colon-Vargas of Conley’s Victim Witness Assistance Program was the advocate assigned to the case. Montano was represented by attorney Anthony Annino.