MONTICELLO – The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court has affirmed
the conviction and sentence of James Conley of Hurleyville, who was sentenced
to 18 years in state prison and 20 years of post-release supervision for
his November 2013 conviction for course of sexual conduct against a child
as a felony.
Conley had admitted to engaging in a course of sexual conduct with a young
girl on several occasions from the time she was 10 until she was 12, Sullivan
County District Attorney James Farrell said.
Conley argued on appeal that his waiver of appeal was invalid and that
his guilty plea was coerced. The appellate court rejected the contention
that his plea was coerced as the issue was not properly preserved.
The court also rejected other claims as meritless.
Conley was arrested after an investigation by the Sullivan County Family
Violence Response Team in December 2012.
“This criminal defendant entered into a plea agreement that included
a waiver of appeal,” said Farrell. “That waiver was part of
the agreement to provide the victim of his crimes with some measure of
closure – to know that the case was over.”
The DA said he was “extremely pleased that the Appellate Division
found that the waiver here had real meaning and was properly executed.”
