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Child Molestation / Child Rape

989: Alexander Nicholson

Cajsa LilliehookLeave a comment

Alexander Nicholson was a Sheriff’s Deputy in Onandaga County, New York. In 2011, he was sentenced two two years in state prison in a plea deal that allowed him to plead guilty to one count of abusing his authority as a law enforcement officer to engage in a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old boy. That was significantly less then the 36 counts of using his authority to sexually abuse two underage boys.

He reoffended.

In 2023 he was again arrested, charged with sexually abusing a thirteen-year-old boy. He killed himself three days after his arrest.

FALL FROM GRACE - FORMER DECORATED DEPUTY - Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) - November 22, 2011 - page A6 November 22, 2011 | Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) | Jim O'Hara Staff writer | Page A6 Defense lawyer Emil Rossi tried to focus attention Monday on all the commendations former sheriff's Deputy Alexander Nicholson received in his career as a law enforcement officer. "Unfortunately, what he did here has marred that to a very significant degree," Onondaga County Judge Joseph Fahey responded. Fahey was referring to Nicholson engaging in sexual conduct with an underage boy as the reason he was standing in court Monday, facing sentencing. Fahey said that criminal conduct could not be overlooked as he sentenced Nicholson to serve two years in state prison. Nicholson 35, of 134 Dewey St., Syracuse, pleaded guilty Sept. 14 to one felony count of second-degree criminal sexual act, admitting he engaged in an act of sexual contact with a 14-year-old boy sometime between July 12 and Aug. 31, 2007. That was one of 36 counts in an indictment accusing Nicholson of abusing his authority as a law enforcement officer to engage in sexual encounters with two underage boys. While the department was investigating allegations Nicholson engaged in a sexual relationship with a 14- year-old boy, a second youth came forward with allegations as well, officials said. Nicholson had nothing to say in court. Rossi told Fahey his client was unable to speak with his family present. "There's a lot he wants to tell you, but he can't," the defense lawyer told the judge. Rossi said Nicholson had accepted complete responsibility for his conduct. But the defense lawyer said that didn't define all there was to know about Nicholson. Rossi read a portion of a letter written by Nicholson's father, a former sergeant with the Watertown Police Department, who noted his son had always wanted to be a police officer and was always willing to help others. Rossi then read from a sheriff's office commendation involving Nicholson being awarded the department's Medal of Valor in 2008 for defusing an incident in which he had been confronted by an intoxicated man armed with a loaded shotgun. Nicholson also saved two lives through his work with a program advocating the use of defibrillators, talked a distraught veteran out of harming himself in a 2003 incident and received a department letter of commendation for his part in a robbery/stabbing investigation, the defense lawyer told Fahey. Rossi returned to Nicholson's father's letter, in which the older man noted he and his wife had health issues and relied on their son for help. When Rossi finished, Fahey said there was no question Nicholson had done a lot of good as a law enforcement officer. But said the state prison sentence was just punishment for Nicholson's criminal conduct. Nicholson could have faced up to seven years in prison for the most serious charges lodged against him in the indictment. But the prosecution agreed to the two-year sentence in a plea deal that also was accepted by the families of the two victims. The victims were not in court and their families had no interest in addressing the court at sentencing, Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Doran said. However, the families have retained a lawyer to pursue a possible civil lawsuit in connection with the molestation of their sons. Outside court, Rossi said he did not mean to overlook the victims by his courtroom comments. He said he thought he addressed them in noting Nicholson accepted full responsibility. Asked what his client wanted to say but was unable to, Rossi said Nicholson wanted to say he wished he could turn back time "to make the situation right, or better yet, to undo it. But that's an impossibility." As he left court, Doran said both victims have exhibited a strength of character that should make it possible for them to go on with their lives. But he noted they both met Nicholson in his position as a law enforcement officer. Doran said he thought the two-year state prison sentence was fair. Nicholson may have been treated more harshly than a similar first-time offender but that was because of the abuse of trust in his conduct, the prosecutor added. Fahey recommended that Nicholson serve his sentence in a special unit set up for law enforcement officers in the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. Contact Jim O'Hara at johara@syracuse.com or 470-2260. See a video from the sentencing at syracuse.com/videos. Copyright, 2011, The Herald Company

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