Robert Knapp of Locke convicted of rape of 3-year-old

Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann announced today that a Cayuga County Jury returned Guilty verdicts on Eleven (11) Counts of: Rape in the First Degree; Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree; Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree; Sexual Abuse in the First Degree; and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. These included: five (5) class B felonies (up to 25 years determinate prison each); four (4) class “D” felonies (up to 7 years determinate prison); and two class “A” misdemeanors (up to one year in jail). The felonies can all run consecutively to each other (up to 153 years). Also required would be a period of Post-Release Supervision (of 5 up to 20 years). DA Budelmann commented: “I am relieved that the jury found the defendant guilty of the highest charges for raping and sexually abusing a three year old child. On the videotaped police interview, the defendant admitted to sexually abusing the child every week from early September until he was caught at to the end of October.”“Unfortunately, since these crimes occurred nearly two years ago (October 2010), a second victim (age 6 at the time of the crime) could no longer recall how long the sexual abuse had gone on and satisfy the three months minimum element of the charge. The third victim (age four at the time), who had repeatedly disclosed the defendant’s sexual abuse to his counselor, the police and myself, could not testify about the abuse when he took the stand at trial.”“I want to thank everyone who assisted in this trial: the Cayuga County’s Sheriff’s Department; Cayuga County Child Advocacy Center; SAVAR; the SANE nurse; Linda Murphy; the victims; and their families for their bravery.I am confident that the Court will hold the defendant accountable for the terrible things that he repeatedly did to these young children, and for failing to accept responsibility and putting the young victims through a felony jury trial nearly two years later.