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THE FACT THAT DEFENDANT HAD BEEN AT LIBERTY FOR 11 YEARS WITHOUT COMMITTING A SEX OFFENSE AND THE FOUR-YEAR DIFFERENCE IN AGE BETWEEN DEFENDANT AND THE VICTIM WARRANTED A DOWNWARD DEPARTURE TO LEVEL ONE (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, granting defendant a downward departure to level one in this SORA risk-assessment proceeding, determined the fact that during 11 years of liberty defendant has not committed a sex offense, and the four-year age-difference between defendant and the victim, should have been considered by the SORA court:

… [T]he defendant has been at liberty for more than 11 years without committing an additional sex offense or violent felony. Additionally, although the Supreme Court properly assessed the defendant points on the risk assessment instrument based on both the victim’s age (risk factor 5) and the defendant’s age at the time of his first offense (risk factor 8), the court did not adequately account for the age difference between the victim and the defendant, which was approximately four years and two months, as an appropriate mitigating factor … .

Under the totality of the circumstances, including that the defendant was already on the cusp of the range applicable to a presumptive risk level two designation … , we designate the defendant a level one sex offender … . People v Wildman, 2024 NY Slip Op 05229, Second Dept 10-23-24

Practice Point: 11 years of liberty without committing a sex offense and the four-year age gap between defendant and the victim warranted a downward departure to level one in this SORA risk-level proceeding.​

 

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