Sullivan County District Attorney Jim Farrell announced today that Robert Johnson 51, of Bloomingburg, N.Y. was found guilty of Predatory Sexual Assault Against a Child, a class A-2 felony, after a six day jury trial in Sullivan County Court.

The jury rendered its guilty verdict after about 1 ½ hours of deliberations and found Johnson guilty of engaging in a course of sexual conduct, including at least one act of sexual intercourse, with a child, who was between the ages of 10 and 12, from the summer of 2011 through May of 2014 in the Town of Mamakating. Johnson was arrested after an investigation by the New York State Police and the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office on January 26, 2015.

The proof at trial established that Johnson engaged in a course of sexual conduct with the victim, over a period of years, until the victim came forward to disclose his repeated abuse. Proof of defendant’s guilt included the testimony of his child victim, as well as forensic analysis of physical evidence, which included a mixture of the defendant’s DNA with DNA of the child on bedding from the child’s bed.

Farrell said, “This child displayed tremendous courage in coming forward and testifying at trial about the most traumatizing moments of her life. If it were not for the bravery this child displayed this defendant would never have been brought to justice. This child persevered through the trial, where she testified in the presence of her abuser, who, instead of guarding and protecting her innocence and safety, violated her most basic rights and, at trial, subjected her to a cross-examination aimed at discrediting her account of the ongoing abuses she suffered at his hand. This defendant’s criminal acts will undoubtedly affect this child for the rest of her life, and, for that, he undoubtedly deserves a life sentence.

"I am proud of the Sullivan County community, whose members continue to fulfill their civic duty in serving on juries, including on cases as difficult to hear as the one at hand. By this jury’s verdict, it is my hope that some measure of justice may be brought to this young child.”

Johnson faces a minimum sentence of 10 years to life, and a maximum sentence of 25 years to life, when he is sentenced on March 10, 2016.

Farrell thanked Assistant District Attorney Eamonn Neary, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation of the New York State Police, and the New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center for their investigation and prosecution of this case.