Tennis Pro Sentenced To 56 Years For Sex Crimes Against Student

FREEHOLD, NJ — The former youth tennis instructor recently convicted of numerous sexual crimes against a student has been sentenced to 56 1/2 years in state prison, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said.

Terry Y. Kuo, 32, of Colts Neck 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, according to the terms of the sentencing by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Jill G. O’Malley.

In October, a jury found Kuo guilty of the crimes following a two-week trial before O’Malley. O’Malley denied Kuo’s motion for a new trial before sentencing him on Friday.

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

An investigation conducted by members of the Marlboro Township Police Department 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 on the defendant’s electronic devices, as well as evidence of sexual crimes committed against the victim.

With the digital and physical evidence, as well as witness testimony, including from the victim, it was shown that Kuo showered the girl with increasingly pricey gifts, such as expensive electronics, jewelry, and designer clothing and accessories while coercing her into engaging in sexual activity with him, the prosecution said.

Kuo was arrested in Marlboro in November 2017 and initially indicted in February 2018.

Superseding indictments were filed upon the recovery and review of additional evidence, in December 2018 and January 2023, before the trial began in September, the prosecutor’s office said.

In October, the jury in his trial found Kuo guilty of the following charges:

• 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.
• Fourth-degree conspiracy to commit evidence tampering.

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 prosecutor’s office said.

The case was prosecuted by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Ryan Lavender and Kristen Anastos.

Kuo had been detained at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold Township since his arrest in Nov. 2017, his attorney confirmed. Joshua Nahum, Millburn, who represented Kuo at trial, said Kuo has previously said he would appeal a conviction. Nahum was not immediately available for comment on an appeal Monday.

Kuo’s previous trial in the matter ended in a mistrial when he urinated in the courtroom during jury selection on Feb. 8, after saying he needed to be excused to urinate.

He is also charged in a separate indictment in a credit card fraud operation. That case is pending, the prosecutor’s office confirmed in October.