PEOPLE FAILED TO PROVE THE VICTIM-AGE AND TIME-PERIOD ELEMENTS OF PREDATORY SEXUAL ASSAULT AGAINST A CHILD, CONVICTION REVERSED (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s conviction for predatory sexual assault against a child. Essentially the People did not present evidence to support the assaults occurred before the victim turned 13 or during a period of less than three months (statutory criteria):
Without narrowing the time frame, it is entirely possible that the testified-to instances of anal sexual conduct that allegedly occurred at that residence happened before the statute’s effective date or after the victim turned 13 years old. The People also failed to establish that the criminal conduct occurred over a period of time not less than three months in duration (see Penal Law §§ 130.96, 130.75 [1]). In short, there were no “markers” in the evidence at trial about when the conduct occurred that would allow the jury to conclude that defendant committed predatory sexual assault against a child at the relevant time … . People v Partridge, 2019 NY Slip Op 04848, Fourth Dept 6-14-19