On Friday, January 26, 2024, a Schenectady County jury convicted Joshua Hodgson [DOB 3/23/1981], a resident of Mayfield in Fulton County, New York of twenty [20] felonies and three [3] misdemeanors, for a summer long criminal sexual relationship with a thirteen [13] year old girl, at the time he was forty (40) years old. The jury found him guilty of the following crimes and innocent of none:
- Three (3) counts of Rape in the Second Degree, Penal Law Section 130.30(1), class D violent felonies, for being at least 18 years old and engaging in sexual intercourse with a child less than 15;
- Four (4) counts of Criminal Sexual Act in the Second Degree, Penal Law Section 130.45(1), class D violent felonies, for engaging in oral sexual contact with a child less than 15;
- Two (2) counts of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree, Penal Law Section 130.60, class A misdemeanors, for subjecting a child less than 14 to sexual touching;
- One (1) count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Penal Law Section 260.10(1), a class A misdemeanor;
- Six (6) counts of Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance as a Sexually Motivated Felony, Penal Law Section 130.91 and 263.05, class C felonies, for inducing the child to send him sexually explicit conduct;
- Six (6) counts of Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child, Penal Law Section 263.16, class E felonies, for retaining those sexually explicitly videos and images on his phone; and
- One (1) count of Disseminating Indecent Materials to Minors in the First Degree as a Sexually Motivated Felony, Penal Law Section 130.91 and 235.22, a class D felony, for sending the child sexually graphic Snapchat messages.
The trial began with jury selection on January 16, 2024. The jury reached the above verdict on Friday January 26, 2024, after deliberating for approximately four and a half [4.5] hours. These crimes all occurred in the Summer of 2021 in the City and County of Schenectady. Mr. Hodgson was a long-time friend of the child’s father. The child’s father allowed Mr. Hodgson to move into a spare bedroom in an act of kindness to help Mr. Hodgson with a place to live and help him find a job. After moving in, Mr. Hodgson groomed the thirteen [13] year old victim and then committed the physical sexual assaults of the child while living there. When Mr. Hodgson moved out of the house in August 2021, he committed the counts related to the production and possession of sexually explicit messages and images of his victim. The inappropriate online sexual relationship continued until September 15, 2021, when the child confirmed to her family and law enforcement that Mr. Hodgson was having a sexual relationship with her. The relationship came to light after Mr. Hodgson sent several threatening messages to the child and her father demanding the return of a sterling silver chain cross necklace that he had gifted the child.
Once the allegations came to light the child was interviewed at the Schenectady County Child Advocacy Center [CAC] by a trained child forensic interviewer. After her disclosures at the CAC the case was investigated by multiple detectives from the City of Schenectady Police Department’s Youth Aid Bureau [Specialized Detectives who investigate crimes involving children for the City of Schenectady]. The following day, on September 16, 2021, members of the Schenectady Police Department with assistance from other law enforcement agencies, executed a search warrant at Mr. Hodgson’s parents’ home in Mayfield, New York. Mr. Hodgson, wearing the chain cross necklace was located at the home with his cell phone. Mr. Hodgson was interviewed for nearly five [5] hours that day by Det. Timothy Rizzo of the Schenectady Police Department. During the interview Mr. Hodgson corroborated much of the victim’s allegations, while denying the sexual nature of the relationship. In that same interview, Mr. Hodgson denied having a working phone or having any sexually explicit images of the victim on a phone. Mr. Hodgson’s phone was sent to the New York State Police’s Forensic Investigation Center-Computer Crimes Unit, where it was analyzed by Sr. Investigator Peter Hickey, who located dozens of sexual images and videos of the child and hundreds of pages of inappropriate chat messages between Mr. Hodgson and his child victim.
Mr. Hodgson faces a maximum of seven [7] years in prison and up to fifteen [15] years of post-release supervision, commonly referred to as parole, for each of the Rape, Criminal Sexual Act, and Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors convictions. Each of those counts could run consecutively to one another. Mr. Hodgson faces a maximum of fifteen [15] years in prison and up to twenty [20] years of post-release supervision for each of the Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance as a Sexually Motivated Felony convictions, those counts can all run consecutively to all the above counts. The convictions for Possession of a Sexual Performance of a Child, Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree, or Endangering the Welfare of a Child all must either run concurrently or merge with other sentences. The defendant will be required to register as a sex offender and have no contact with the victim based on the issuance of a full order of protection for her and her father upon his possible release from prison. With respect to sentencing the People will request that the judge classify Mr. Hodgson as a “persistent felony offender,” because Mr. Hodgson has four [4] prior felony convictions each of which carried a separate, previous state prison sentence. If classified as a “persistent felon,” the judge could sentence the defendant to up to twenty-five [25] years to life in prison, for each felony conviction. Again, many of those possible life sentences could run consecutively. The People believe the maximum sentence allowed by law if Mr. Hodgson is classified as a persistent felon is three hundred and fifty [350] years to life in prison.
Schenectady County District Attorney Robert M. Carney stated the following with regard to this case: “Mr. Hodgson preyed upon a vulnerable child who had recently lost her mother, but did not count on her having the fortitude and courage she showed in telling law enforcement and ultimately this jury, just what he had done to her. He is a career criminal, having been incarcerated previously for burglaries, car larcenies, aggravated criminal contempt for repeated domestic abuse and many acts of assaultive or menacing conduct. He is a criminal opportunist who feels he has the right to do anything he wants, regardless of whom he hurts. By his conduct, he has earned the onus of a lifetime of confinement in prison until such time as a parole board determines he is safe to release.”
Mr. Hodgson is presently scheduled to be sentenced in Schenectady County Court on April 12, 2024. Hon. Mark J. Caruso, in his capacity as acting Schenectady County Court Judge presided. The case was prosecuted by Special Victims Bureau Chief John J. Carson for the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Hodgson was represented by assigned counsel Gennaro D. Calabrese, of the Calabrese Law Firm, PLLC.