POUGHKEEPSIE – Jairon Javier Gregorio Mendez was convicted by a Dutchess County jury in 2018 for repeatedly raping his sister who was between six and eight years old, has had his sentence reduced by the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division. The conviction after trial resulted in Dutchess County Court Judge Edward McLoughlin sentencing the rapist to a prison sentence of 25 years followed by 20 years of post-release supervision.
Judge McLoughlin imposed the sentence on Mendez after the convictions of course of sexual conduct against a child and endangering the welfare of a child. The 25-year sentence, allowable under state law, was to be served concurrently with a one-year prison sentence for the conviction of endangering the welfare of a child.
Mendez filed an appeal in January of this year claiming that he was denied a fair trial in Dutchess County Court and also sought to have the verdict set aside because he should have been granted youthful offender status because of his age at the time of arrest. The appellate court denied the fair trial and youthful offender appeals but reduced his sentence without being asked by Mendez, saying that it was “excessive.”
In Wednesday’s decision, the appellate court ordered that the prison sentence be reduced from 25 years in prison to 11 years in the penitentiary and reduced his post-release supervision term from 20 years to six years.
Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office Bureau Chief for Special Victims, Kristine Whelan expressed her displeasure with the appellate court’s decision. “We do not believe that the reduction in the original sentence was warranted by the evidence in this case,” the prosecutor said. “The defendant was convicted of repeatedly raping a child who was between six and eight years old at the time and the court’s decision fails to explain the basis for the reduction, except to say that it was excessive.”
In denouncing the recent decision, Whelan took aim at the court’s claim that the reduction was warranted. “We are completely disheartened by the court’s decision to reduce the sentence for this child rapist and do not believe that such reduction was in the interest of justice.”
The repeated rapes occurred between the fall of 2015 and December 18, 2017.
