Sullivan County District Attorney Jim Farrell announced that Robert Johnson, 52, of Bloomingburg, N.Y., was sentenced today in Sullivan County Court to a term of 25 years to life in state prison on his conviction for Predatory Sexual Assault Against a Child, a class A-II felony. Johnson was convicted, following a jury trial, on December 21, 2015, of that offense, for his course of sexual conduct against a child from the summer of 2011 through May of 2014 in the Town of Mamakating. Sentencing had been delayed due to the filing by defendant of various motions after the jury’s verdict, all of which were denied by the trial court.

 

The trial jury found that, for a period of time not less than three months, Johnson, who was between 46 and 49 years old, engaged in two or more acts of sexual conduct including at least one act of sexual intercourse with a child who was between 10 and 12 years old. The proof at trial established, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Johnson engaged in this course of conduct repeatedly, for a period of years, until the victim came forward to disclose his abuses. Proof of defendant’s guilt included the testimony of his child victim, as well as forensic analysis of physical evidence, which included a mixture of the defendant’s DNA with DNA of the child on bedding from the child’s bed. 

 

Chief Assistant District Attorney Meagan Galligan recommended that the Court impose the maximum permissible sentence upon Johnson, for his years of abuse against this child.  Galligan noted that, in view of the lifetime of suffering to which this defendant has subjected this innocent victim, Johnson deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison. Supreme Court Justice Stephan Schick, imposed the recommended maximum 25 years to life prison sentence, and directed the issuance of a permanent Order of Protection directing Johnson to have absolutely no contact with this victim.

 

Farrell said, “The imposition of a life sentence here ensures that this defendant will never harm another child again and holds him accountable for his reprehensible conduct and underscores that our society will not tolerate these crimes against children.  This child has continued to display tremendous courage, throughout the years of abuse perpetrated by this defendant and in coming forward to disclose these crimes and preserving through trial. My office will continue to fight to protect the rights of all children subjected to sexual abuse. I hope the life sentence imposed today will bring some measure of security back into the life of this child.”

 

Farrell thanked the Bureau of Criminal Investigation of the New York State Police, and the New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center for their investigation of this case and Chief Assistant Meagan Galligan for her work in this prosecution.