KINGSTON – A Kingston man who was convicted of sexual abuse was sentenced Dec. 6 to four and a half years in state prison.
The Ulster County District Attorney’s office said the defendant, Carlos Fernando Pinola Pop, 41, of Kingston, was found guilty of first-degree sexual abuse, a felony, in a trial before visiting Sullivan County Court Judge James Farrell in a trial that concluded Aug. 15.
In addition to the prison sentence, Pop also will be registered as a sex offender.
According to the district attorney’s office, Pop subjected a 7-year-old girl to sexual contact on Sept. 25, 2023, by placing his hands and penis on her vagina.
The girl told her mother, who informed a third-party community member. The third party informed the Kingston Police Department, and Pop was arrested on Oct. 13, 2023.
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The district attorney’s office said Pop admitted to the sexual contact to the Kingston Police Department, and later pleaded guilty in open court.
During a subsequent interview with the Ulster County Probation Department, Pop failed to take accountability for his actions and stated that he only touched the victim accidentally.
The district attorney’s office said Pop’s false statement to the Probation Department resulted in the court imposing a longer sentence than the one originally agreed upon.
“Crimes against children are the most heinous offenses committed in Ulster County,” Special Victims Bureau Chief Jenna Hastings, who prosecuted the case, said in a statement released by the district attorney’s office. “It takes a lot of courage for anyone to report sex offenses, let alone a seven-year-old little girl. I commend her bravery, and I am glad our office was successful in finding her the justice she deserves.”
Pop’s attorney, Richard Berube of the Ulster County Public Defender’s office, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Kingston man convicted of child sexual abuse, sentenced to prison