FORMER MONTICELLO COP WAS ACCUSED OF STATUTORY RAPE & PLEAD TO ENDANGERING WELFARE OF CHILD
COURT: FORMER JUDGE MCGUIRE'S JUDGEMENT IN CASE WAS 'JURISDICTIONALLY DEFECTIVE '
The Appellate Division, Third Department early Thursday reversed a Sullivan County Court judgement and dismissed the criminal case against former Monticello Police Officer Yermia Solomon.
The former Monticello Police officer in 2018 plead guilty to a misdemeanor (endangering the welfare of a child) in the case stemming from the 2016 incident. He resigned from the department and was sentenced to three years of probation.
Former District Attorney Jim Farrell , now a County Court Judge, and then-Chief Assistant District Attorney Meagan Galligan charged Solomon by indictment with: criminal sexual act in the third degree (three counts), rape in the third degree (two counts, later dropped) and official misconduct.
The indictment stemmed from allegations that Solomon on November 13, 2016,, then a 24-year-old police officer, engaged in oral sexual conduct with a 15-year-old victim.
However, the Third Department held that: "Although the victim was born on March 13, 2001, the charges in the indictment incorrectly stated that her date of birth was June 2, 1999, thereby indicating that the victim was over the age of 17 at the time of the alleged offenses. "
The Third Department decision today stated:
"Inasmuch as the offense of endangering the welfare of a child requires that the victim be less than 17 years old, we find that the superior court information was jurisdictionally defective because it failed to effectively charge defendant with the commission of a crime where the date of birth indicated that the victim was 17 at the time of the offense. "
Meanwhile, Galligan - who is now District Attorney - was ordered by State Supreme Court Justice Stephan Schick in 2020 to return Solomon's computer equipment that was seized during the investigation.
As of July 2020. Solomon was assisting the Village of Monticello Police Department as a volunteer to help with their radio communications and technology issues.
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