SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — According to the Schenectady County District Attorney, a jury took 30 minutes to deliberate before returning a guilty verdict for 29-year-old Kevin Fessette on two child sexual abuse charges.
Fessette was charged with sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy he knew in the summer of 2017. The abuse was not just physical, as Fessette also showed the child porn before assaulting him.
The boy first spoke about the assault two years later, and detectives first interviewed Fessette on September 18, 2019. During the recorded interview, he admitted to all of the child’s allegations.
“This outcome was made possible by the courage of a now 14-year-old boy, who was able to confront his abuser through testimony,” said District Attorney Robert M. Carney. “And the extremely professional work of Schenectady Police Investigator Tim Rizzo, who, in a three-hour interview, established a rapport with Mr. Fessette and obtained the truth from him without ever suggesting to him what he believed that truth to be. The speed of the jury’s verdict reflects both the quality of the presentation from our trial team but also the fact that the jury was able to watch Detective Rizzo’ s interview in its entirety and draw its own conclusion about what happened.”
The jury found Fessette guilty of:
- First-degree criminal sexual act
- Endangering the welfare of a child
When he’s sentenced, Fessette faces anywhere from five to 25 years behind bars, plus as much as 20 years of parole upon release. He must also register as a sex offender.
This was the first jury trial convened in Schenectady County since November. Before that, the last jury trial was in March 2020.
