A South Setauket man was sentenced to 17 years in prison for repeated abuse of his five-week-old son that caused life-threatening damage to the baby’s brain.

Vincent Distasi, 33, pleaded guilty on June 2, 2025, to first-degree assault.

Distasi was sentenced Thursday to 17 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly’s office was designated as special prosecutor on this case.

“Vincent Distasi’s sadistic and repeated abuse of his tiny infant son was barbaric and forever changed the course of the child’s life,” Donnelly said. “Distasi viciously shook, smacked, and smothered the baby from the moment he came home from the hospital, and five weeks later, that abuse sent the child back to doctors – this time in the emergency room – with life-threatening injuries to his brain.”

On Jan. 21, 2024, at approximately 3:30 p.m., the baby was rushed to Stony Brook University Hospital unresponsive, and he required emergency brain surgery.

Doctors determined the child suffered from multiple injuries, including rib fractures, fractures to both arms, and a subdural hematoma to his brain, among other acute injuries.

The infant’s injuries were in various stages of healing indicating that the child had suffered prolonged abuse.

As part of the criminal investigation, Ring video footage was secured from the Distasi home that recorded the family’s living room.

Review of the footage showed the defendant abusing the infant.