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Schenectady man sentenced to 40 years in child sexual abuse case, DA says

The Daily Gazette - 3/15/2023

Mar. 15—Article Audio:

SCHENECTADY — A city man was sentenced this week to 40 years in state prison after child sexual abuse convictions, Schenectady County District Attorney's officials said.

William Lindley, 33, of Schenectady, was convicted in January of two counts of first-degree criminal sexual act and first-degree sexual abuse, officials said.

The jury found Lindley subjected a child known to him to sexual contact in Schenectady in June 2020. He committed the acts while the child's mother was at work, officials said.

The investigation began in August 2021 when the child found the courage to disclose the sexual assaults to her mother, who then brought them to police, officials said.

The case was investigated by Schenectady Youth Aid Detective Kristen Florell. The case was presented to a grand jury and Lindley was arrested in February 2022.

Lindley took the case to trial, where both the child and her mother testified. An expert in the effects of child sexual abuse also testified to assist the jury in understanding how children react to sexual abuse, officials said.

Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney noted Lindley previously has been convicted of a violent felony and a crime against a child, indicating Special Victim's Bureau Chief John J. Carson noted that at sentencing.

"At sentencing, Mr. Lindley spoke of himself as as victim of the me-too movement, inadequate police investigation, overzealous prosecution and ineffective assistance by his own lawyer," Carney said in a statement. "But neither did he proclaim his own innocence or express an iota of remorse for what he did to this child. The community is safer with him behind bars."

Lindley was represented by attorney Carl D. Birman.

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