FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT
DATE: AUGUST 20, 2019
RE: PRESS RELEASE - DISTRICT ATTORNEY D. HOLLEY CARNRIGHT ANNOUNCES: ROCHESTER MAN ADMITS COURSE OF SEXUAL CONDUCT WITH A CHILD
Michael Park, 40, formerly of Old Mine Road in the Town of Rochester, pleaded guilty on Wednesday August 14, 2019 to the Class “D” violent felony of Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child in the Second Degree in Ulster County Court. The defendant admitted that between September 1, 2014 and June 30, 2018, he engaged in two or more acts of sexual conduct with a child who was less than thirteen years old.
The defendant was arrested on October 19, 2018, following an investigation by the Ulster County Family and Child Advocacy Center. He was indicted by an Ulster County Grand Jury on April 5, 2019 and charged with one count of Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child in the Second Degree, one count of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, also a Class D violent felony, four counts of Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child, a Class E felony and three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child which is a misdemeanor. The charges involve sexual contact with two different children while they were under the age of thirteen and endangerment of those children and a third child under the age of seventeen years old.
District Attorney Carnright stated, “This man was brought to justice by the courage of the young victims who came forward and reported to a parent what he had done. This was the first case handled by an investigator new to our office with an extensive background in computer crimes. His expertise enabled us to develop evidence which offers compelling corroboration of the victims’ disclosures”.
Park faces up to seven years in state prison and up to ten years of post-release supervision. He will be required to register under the New York State Sexual Offender Registration Act for a minimum of twenty years. The case was prosecuted by Special Victims Bureau Chief, Katherine R. Van Loan. The defendant was represented by Herman Kaufman, Esq. of the firm H. Kaufman Associates in Brooklyn.