CORTLAND, N.Y. – A Freetown man has been sentenced to 15-25 years in prison in connection with a 2011 child pornography case.
[do_widget id= text-6 ]
Paul O'Neill, 41, pleaded guilty last month to one count of course of sexual conduct against a child, a class B felony, and one count of use of a child in a sexual performance, a class C felony.
O'Neill was sentenced Tuesday in Cortland County Court to 10 years in state prison— followed by 20 years of post-release supervision — on the class B felony charge and 5-15 years on the class C felony charge.
Prosecutors had alleged that O'Neill engaged in two or more sexual acts with a 12-year-old at a home in the town of Freetown.
O'Neill's guilty conviction was overturned by a state appeals court in June after a judge discovered that the crimes to which O'Neill pleaded guilty in 2011 did not match the crimes listed in the felony complaint filed by the Cortland County District Attorney's Office.
In exchange for entering a guilty plea, O'Neill will not face federal charges. The FBI had expressed interest in his case, according to the district attorney's office.
[do_widget id= text-7 ]
