POUGHKEEPSIE – The appeal of a conviction of a man who was homeless at the time of his arrest and conviction in Dutchess County Court back in 2016, has been rejected by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court.
Patrick Ciancanelli, 37, was convicted in a jury trial in December 2016, of two counts of second-degree rape, sexual abuse in the first degree, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a trial. He was sentenced to 21 years in state prison.
Ciancanelli was convicted of touching the vaginas of two victims when they were 10 and 13 years of age, respectively, and had sexual intercourse on two occasions with one of them when she was less than 15 years of age. He was in his 30s at the time.
“Contrary to the defendant’s contention, the victims’ testimony as to their dates of birth and the defendant’s own statement of his date of birth to the police were legally sufficient to establish a lack of consent based upon incapacity to consent due to age, and thus to support the defendant’s convictions of rape in the second degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, and endangering the welfare of a child,” the appellate court decision stated.
The court also ruled that the sentence imposed in Dutchess County Court was not excessive.
