Poole
KINGSTON – A Port Deposit, Maryland man was sentenced in Ulster
County Court on Wednesday to 11 years in state prison followed by 10 years
of post-release supervision for driving to Ulster County to have sex with
underage girls.
Daniel Poole, 49, pled guilty to criminal sexual act and rape, both as
felonies. He admitted he had oral sex with a girl under the age of 15
in June of last year and that he had intercourse with a child under 17
in October of last year.
He was arrested on January 25, 2017 after he was spotted by Ulster County
Sheriff’s deputies near a training exercise in the Town of Esopus
while at the same time officers saw a young girl walking in a remote area.
Poole initially told deputies he was lost on his way to hunt for snow
geese in Albany – he was dressed in full camouflage. He had a dead
goose in his vehicle but did not have a New York hunting permit.
It was eventually determined he had traveled from Maryland to meet a minor
he met online and brought the goose as a decoy to show his wife when he
returned home.
Investigation determined Poole had met the victim on a website in January
2016 when she was 14. The relationship continued for almost a year with
continuous online communication. It became sexual including the exchange
of inappropriate photographs. He first came to Ulster County in June 2016
when he met the victim near the remote location where he was found by
police. He met the girl in New York for sex on two other occasions after
she turned 15.
District Attorney Holley Carnright said it is critical that parents are
aware that predators like this “really do exist and are engaging
children online.”
