Prosecutor: Former Youth Tennis Instructor Gets 56+ Years for Sex Crimes Against Pre-Teen Student

The former youth tennis instructor recently convicted more than a year’s worth of sexual assaults against a pre-teen student has been sentenced to 56 ½ years in state prison, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Saturday.

Terry Y. Kuo, 32, of Colts Neck, also formerly known as Victor Lee, must serve a minimum of 85 percent of that term before the possibility of parole under the provisions of New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA), according to the terms set down during a sentencing hearing by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Jill G. O’Malley.

Judge O’Malley denied Kuo’s motion for a new trial before sentencing him on Friday. Kuo will be 72 by the time he becomes eligible for parole, after which he will be subject to parole supervision for life, registration as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, and a permanent restraining order barring him from any direct or indirect contact with the victim.

The case background …

The case stemmed from an investigation initiated after one of Kuo’s students alleged that he had engaged in various instances of sexual misconduct on multiple occasions from August 2016 through November 2017, starting when she was 12.

A subsequent investigation conducted by Marlboro police and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Bureau and Computer Crimes Unit resulted in the recovery of digital files containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on the defendant’s electronic devices, as well as evidence of sexual crimes committed against the victim.

Leveraging the digital and physical evidence, as well as witness testimony, including the victim’s, the state proved that Kuo showered her with increasingly pricey gifts such as expensive electronics, jewelry, and designer clothing and accessories while coercing her into engaging in sexual activity with him.

Kuo was arrested in Marlboro in November of 2017 and initially indicted in February 2018. Superseding indictments were filed upon the recovery and review of additional evidence, in December of 2018 and January of 2023, before the trial began in September.

In all, the jury found Kuo guilty of: two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child via manufacture of child sexual abuse materials, first-degree kidnapping, three counts of second-degree sexual assault, second-degree endangering via manufacture of child sexual abuse materials, third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact, third-degree endangering via possession of child sexual abuse materials, third-degree endangering via engaging in sexual conduct, third-degree obscenity, fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, and fourth-degree conspiracy to commit evidence tampering.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office