“This is a bad guy, a bad guy”
An Ontario County jury convicted a Hopewell man on all charges Wednesday for repeatedly sexually abusing a young girl.
Following three hours of deliberation, the jury — made up of seven men and five women — found Richard E. Aikey Jr., 33, of 2607 County Road 10, guilty of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. The three-day trial was before Judge Frederick Reed; Assistant District Attorney James Ritts was the prosecutor for the county.
Aikey, already a Level 3 sex offender, will be held in the county jail without bail until his sentencing on Oct. 22 at 9:30 a.m. He faces up to 15 years in prison with 20 years of post-release supervision.
“This is a bad guy, a bad guy,” Ritts said.
Aikey was initially charged with first-degree sexual abuse, but after further investigation he was charged with second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, which meant he was accused of engaging in two or more sexual acts against a child younger than 11 years old over the course of three months.
Aikey was accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a young girl between January 2005 and February 2008. In one instance, the girl’s younger sister allegedly witnessed the abuse.
The allegations were first brought to light by the state police in Dundee and Yates County Child Protective Services, and further investigated by state police in Ontario County, Ritts said.
Aikey was previously arrested in April 1995 on first-degree sexual abuse charges stemming from sexual contact with three boys, ages 7, 10 and 11. According to records from the state sex offender registry, Aikey was the children’s baby sitter.
Aikey, who was convicted on those charges, was released on parole in September 2001. He is listed as a Level 3 sex offender, which means he is at high risk to act again.
On Tuesday, the 12-year-old victim and her 9-year-old sister testified against Aikey. Aikey also took the stand in his own defense Tuesday.
On Wednesday, defense attorney Michael Jones Jr. called Aikey’s former roommate — Keith Shaffer — to the stand to testify that he was with Aikey at the time of one of the incidents, Ritts said.
Ritts said he plans to seek the maximum sentence for Aikey.
“For a guy like this, I think we have to look at the long side to protect other kids,” he said.
"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte
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