A Level 3 sex offender convicted by a jury in June of failure to register his proper address will serve one-and-a-quarter to four years in State Prison, the maximum sentence on the charge available to Judge Mark H. Dadd.
Meanwhile, Ronald A. Smith, 19, of Batavia, was given until Friday to decide whether to take a plea offer on three felony counts of sexual abuse in the first degree.
Smith is accused of sexual contact with children under age 11 within months of being released from state custody on a prior sex crime conviction.
Public Defender Gary Horton said Smith indicated that he wished to proceed to trial on sexual abuse charges, but by this morning had a change of heart and wanted time to discuss the plea offer with his family, particularly his mother.
If convicted at trial of all three counts, Smith faces up to 21 years in prison (maximum sentences of seven years each, and if imposed consecutively).
District Attorney Lawrence Friedman has offered a maximum five-year sentence -- the minimum sentence available for a second violent felony offender -- in exchange for a guilty plea.
Smith is scheduled to reappear in Genesee County Court at 9:45 a.m., Friday, to either plead guilty or request that his case go to trial.
Smith was arrested in January on the sexual abuse and failure to register charges, less than four months after being released on a similar sexual abuse conviction. Smith reportedly lived for a time on Thorpe Street, on East Main Street and in Oakfield. He only ever registered his address on Thorpe Street.
The failure to register charge was tried separately from the sexual abuse charges and a jury returned a verdict in less than two hours on June 22.
Judge Dadd, out of Wyoming County, presided over the trial because Judge Robert C. Noonan was presiding over a civil trial in Orleans County at the time.
Noonan was on the bench today for Smith's plea cut-off hearing, which followed the sentencing by Dadd on the failure to register charge.
Normally, I believe in
Normally, I believe in rehabilitation. But this is just sad. This kid is only 19 and he has done this twice already (that we know of, that he has been caught doing). He should get the max. Is he ever really going to change?
How many more children does he have to hurt before we stop letting him out??
I agree Lily. I have young
I agree Lily. I have young grandchildren and if this guy laid a finger on them i would be the one spending life in prison because our system did not book him the max. sentence.
don't forget "allegedly" and
don't forget "allegedly" and "innocent until proven guilty" and if and when he is found guilty, then cut his junk off with a rusty steak knife!!
What do you do with a dog
What do you do with a dog that bites people too many times. You PUT HIM DOWN!