FROM: HOLLEY
CARNRIGHT
DATE: JULY 25,
2014
RE: PRESS RELEASE
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
D. HOLLEY CARNRIGHT ANNOUNCES: PLATTEKILL
MAN SENTENCED TO TWENTY YEARS FOR RAPE OF ELDERLY WOMAN
Brandon
Devaux, 27, of 38 Country Pond Lane, in the Town of Plattekill, was sentenced Friday,
July 25, 2014, before Ulster County Court Judge, Hon. Donald A. Williams, to twenty
years to be served in state prison followed by twenty years post release
supervision. Devaux will be required to
register under the New York State Sexual Offender Registration Act for the
remainder of his life. Additionally, a
full “Stay Away” Order of Protection will remain in effect until July 25, 2042.
The
defendant was indicted by the Ulster County Grand Jury on November 21, 2013, for
Burglary in the First Degree, following his arrest on November 14, 2013 by the New
York State Police in Highland. A
superseding indictment was handed up on December 18, 2013 which included
charges of forcible rape and criminal sexual act after forensic analysis was
completed at the New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center in Albany.
Devaux
entered a plea of guilty on May 9, 2014, to the sexually violent felony offense
of Rape in the First Degree. Jury
Selection had been scheduled to commence June 2, 2014.
Police
responded to a 911 call from the 80 year old victim’s home shortly before 5
a.m. on Sunday, November 10, 2013. The
scene was processed by police and the victim was treated at St. Luke’s Hospital
in Cornwall. The New York State Police
Forensic Identification Unit and Major Crime Bureau assisted in the
investigation.
The
victim spoke at sentencing, focusing on the impact this horrific crime has had on
her family rather than herself. In
discussing the specific criminal acts, she recounted how she acquiesced to the
defendant’s demands because he had threatened to kill her. The victim asked only for the defendant to answer
to one question. She described how the
defendant had ordered her to come with him when he left but relented when she
had difficulty unlocking the door. Her
question at sentence was, “Where would you have taken me”? The defendant
declined to answer or make any statements to the court.
The
People recommended a substantial state prison sentence but asked the court to offer
the defendant something less than the maximum sentence permitted by law if he
were to plead guilty to obviate the need for this victim to testify at a
trial. This case was prosecuted by
Special Victims Bureau Chief Katherine R. Van Loan. The defendant was represented by Bryan
Rounds, Esq. of the Ulster County Public Defender’s Office.
