CHENANGO COUNTY – In three years of arrests, the District Attorney’s Office has successfully prosecuted 34 of the 37 people arrested for felony sex crimes in Chenango County.
From 2004 to 2006, the county court dealt out over 156 years of minimal prison time and nearly 190 years maximum, plus over 130 years of post-release supervision over the 34 completed cases. Accompanying the majority of those terms was the mandatory life-long registration on the sex offender database.
Of the three not prosecuted, one person fled, one is still in the judicial process and one had their charges dismissed because they had more serious federal charges pending. The defendant in that case was found guilty and sentenced to federal prison.
In the numbers released by the Chenango County Court, the average sentence for any person committing a felony sex crime locally was three to five years in state prison.
Four of the 37 defendants prosecuted brought their case before a trial jury and all were found guilty of at least one count against them. The average sentence in those four convictions was 14 to 17.5 years in prison.
Out of the more than 50 charges issued against the 34 different defendants, 25 of the counts were rape. Five of those defendants were found guilty of first degree rape, a violent felony. However, the majority of the rape charges, 16 counts, were third degree rape involving a minor under 17, commonly known as statutory rape.
District Attorney Joseph McBride said, “Our office has done very well in bringing sexual predators to justice and we will continue to aggressively pursue charges against anyone who violates another person, especially children, by committing such an unconscionable act. They need to go to prison.”
The numbers for 2007 were not yet available but in the last few weeks, several sex cases have come to county court.
Richard M. Hathaway, 47, of Oxford was originally charged with first degree rape and first degree criminal sexual act, both class B violent felonies, as well as endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor. Hathaway pleaded guilty to the criminal sexual act. His attorney said he faces between 7 and 10 years in prison.
Delbert Shofkam was found guilty at trial of attempting to rape his grand daughter on at least one occasion and forcing her into sexual encounters on several different occasions beginning in November 2004. He was found guilty of several counts of committing a criminal sexual act. He is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. He faces over a decade in prison, said the DA’s office.
Danny E. Price, 36, 137 Horstman’s Trailer Park, Norwich, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a girl under the age of 11 on Sept. 19, and was sentenced to four years in state prison and three years post-release supervision. Like all the others listed, he will also be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.