Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY — The man who police said lured a 12-year-old girl into Vale Cemetery and tried to rape her has agreed to a plea bargain with prosecutors.

With his trial approaching, Chester L. Williamson, 26, of Donnan Avenue, pleaded guilty to one felony count of second-degree aggravated sexual abuse in exchance for a sentence of 12 years in prison, according to Andra Ackerman, the assistant Schenectady County district attorney prosecuting the case. Because of prior convictions, Williamson could have faced life in prison if convicted at trial.

Williamson was initially charged with first-degree attempted rape and first-degree sexual abuse after the Sept. 28, 2007, attack, which was only stopped when a city police officer and a state trooper came upon them in the cemetery after the girl's mother reported her missing, police said. Williamson initially escaped, police said, but was taken into custody later when he returned to retrieve a bicycle he left behind.

Quoted Text

Man admits abusing girl in Vale Park

By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
Last updated: 3:26 p.m., Tuesday, May 27, 2008

SCHENECTADY -- A three-time convicted felon who as a teen provided the impetus for a tougher animal cruelty law pleaded guilty today to sexually abusing a mentally disabled 12-year-old girl after luring her to a city park last fall.

     
Chester Williamson is expected to draw a 12-year prison sentence for felony second-degree aggravated sexual abuse, according to Andra Ackerman, chief of the Schenectady County district attorney's special victims unit.

Jury selection was to start this morning for his trial in a Schenectady County Courtroom.

As part of the plea agreement, Williamson, 27, of Schenectady will also be sentenced July 22 by County Judge Joseph Sise to 20 years of post-release supervision and have to register as sex offender.

In September 2007, Williamson took the girl by the arm away from Eastern Avenue, walking her to a wooded section of Vale Park on the ruse they were looking for her sister.

He began assaulting her, only to be interrupted by a city officer and state trooper investigating a report of a missing girl.

Williamson fled but was arrested when he returned to the scene about 90 minutes later under the cover of darkness to collect his bicycle, police said.

He was indicted in November on charges of second-degree aggravated sexual abuse, first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

Williamson is the same individual who as a teen a decade ago set fire to a cat named Buster, prompting a campaign that made animal cruelty a felony in New York. In the case, Williamson was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to undergo psychiatric counseling.

He has also been imprisoned for possession of stolen property and attempted burglary.

Quoted Text

With his trial approaching, Chester L. Williamson, 26, of Donnan Avenue, pleaded guilty to one felony count of second-degree aggravated sexual abuse in exchance for a sentence of 12 years in prison, according to Andra Ackerman, the assistant Schenectady County district attorney prosecuting the case. Because of prior convictions, Williamson could have faced life in prison if convicted at trial

Quoted from bumblethru

. WOW...what a deal. If the guy lived to be 80..he'd have spent 54 years in prison. Now he'll be out and free to rape again, when he's 38 years old. That is unless they parole him earlier. What is wrong with Schenectady's prosecuting attorney's?

A 26 year old, with prior convictions, tries to rape a 12 year old and they cop a plea bargin. WTF?

Quoted from 147

Not only that, a mentally disabled 12 yr old.

You really think this guy can be rehabilitated??

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Guilty plea in attempted rape
Authorities attribute plea to DNA evidence
BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Steven Cook at 395-3122 or scook@dailygazette.net

    The man accused of luring a 12-year-old girl into Vale Cemetery and then trying to rape her admitted to the crime Tuesday, officials said.
    Officials attributed the plea to newly returned DNA evidence, not only placing Chester L. Williamson at the scene, but also placing him with the girl.
    Williamson pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree aggravated sexual abuse. He faces 12 years in state prison at his July sentencing.
    The attack last September was broken up, authorities have said, only when police arrived looking for the girl.
    The plea came just before jury selection was to begin in Schenectady County Court.
    It also prevents the girl from having to testify. The girl, described as mentally disabled, had been undergoing increasing stress as the trial date neared, prosecutor Andra Ackerman said.
    Had she testified, she would have done so via closed-circuit television. But, even with that, she was scared, Ackerman said.
    “She couldn’t understand that she would be safe from him while being in the same building,” Ackerman said. “The family is extremely relieved. She was under a lot of stress.”
    Williamson is heading back to prison, a place he has been twice before. He was the spark for a law increasing penalties for animal abuse.
    In November 1997, he doused an 18-month-old cat named Buster with kerosene and lit it on fire. The cat later died.
    The case sparked widespread outrage and led directly to the passage of “Buster’s Law,” which made aggravated animal cruelty a felony.
    Williamson was represented Tuesday by attorney Todd Monahan. Afterward, he said that, while they felt there were problems with the prosecution’s case, Williamson took the plea deal because he believed it was in his best interests “to close a painful chapter in the lives of everyone involved.”
    “He didn’t want to make the young child have to relive the experience,” Monahan said.
    Asked if Williamson was remorseful, Monahan said that he was.
    “That will fully come out at sentencing,” Monahan said.
DNA TEST KEY
    The plea was also brought about by the weight of the evidence, Monahan said. The DNA testing, he said, was a big factor.
    Those results didn’t come in until Friday, Ackerman said. The case had been scheduled to go to trial three weeks ago without the results, due to some miscommunication.
    But, a change in defense attorneys opened the way for quick tests. Ackerman credited the state police crime lab with making the case a top priority.
    Williamson was accused of luring the girl to the cemetery under the pretext of looking for her sister. Williamson did not know the girl, but he had had some limited interaction with her sister.
    The girl’s family quickly reported her missing, prompting an immediate police search. Schenectady Police officer Michael Garavelli and state Trooper Matthew Polikowski came upon Williamson and the girl in the cemetery.
    The girl was struggling, Williamson had his pants around his ankles.
    Polikowski chased after him, while Garavelli tended to the girl. Williamson got away, but not before leaving his bike and sweatshirt.
    Williamson was arrested hours later after returning for the bike. Garavelli was there waiting and placed him under arrest.
    Despite the expected officer’s testimony, it was the DNA evidence that finally tipped the balance, Ackerman said.
    “The hard work of the state crime lab saved this girl from having to testify,” Ackerman said.

Quoted Text

The girl was struggling, Williamson had his pants around his ankles.
    Polikowski chased after him, while Garavelli tended to the girl. Williamson got away, but not before leaving his bike and sweatshirt.