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Steve Pigeon, the former Erie County Democratic Party Chairman, was sentenced to 364 days in jail after admitting to the sexual abuse of a child more than seven years ago.
The former political figure had pleaded guilty last month to one count of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, a class D violent felony.
The case, which took a significant toll on the local community, came to a resolution when Pigeon, 63, received his sentence early Friday morning.
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn underlined the gravity of the crime, which occurred between November and December 2016, and involved a child who was 9-year-old at the time, 2WGRZ reported.
Justice William Boller of the State Supreme Court accepted a plea agreement, endorsed by the victim’s family. District Attorney Flynn noted that this decision was made to avoid subjecting the victim to the stress of testifying in court.
In a sincere and moving statement read by prosecutors during the sentencing, the victim, who was a child when the crime occurred, expressed the profound impact the abuse had on her life, stating, “He took away practically my whole childhood… I wish that Gerald Steven Pigeon would spend the rest of his life in prison for what he did to me, but we don’t always get exactly what we want.”
“The stress of a trial that we almost had was practically debilitating,” the victim wrote, adding, “The day I found out what had actually happened to me, I remember feeling so disgusted and scared. I wanted to go tell my mom, but I remember Steve saying that if I told anyone, he would hurt my mother.”
Pigeon, who remained silent before the judge during sentencing, will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release. Additionally, the court issued a final order of protection for the victim and the victim’s mother, which will be maintained until December 2031.
This is not the first time the former Democrat chairman has been involved in a scandal. According to WKBW, “The former Erie County Democratic Chairman also previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to arrange illegal donations to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2014 re-election campaign. He was sentenced to four months in prison in connection to that case in July 2022.”
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