Ex-chairman of Erie County Democratic party sentenced for child sex abuse in NY

Ex-chairman of Erie County Democratic party sentenced for child sex abuse in NY

A one-time upstate New York powerbroker was sentenced Friday for sexually abusing a child.

Steve Pigeon, a former chairman of the Erie County Democratic party, was ordered to serve 364 days in jail and will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release after pleading guilty to one count of first-degree sexual abuse in November 2023.

“The sexual assault of a child is a completely evil act. It is one without justification or redemption. But this case is much more than that. Here, the defendant, a powerful man cloaked in the protection of wealth and political influence undoubtedly thought he could do whatever he wanted,” said prosecutor Cathleen M. Roemer, the Buffalo News reported.

Pigeon sexually assaulted a 9-year-old girl between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2016, according to the Erie County District Attorney.

The girl, now a teenager, was in the courtroom when Pigeon was sentenced.

“I remember for the first year after it happened, I honestly didn’t know what actually happened,” the victim said in a statement read to the court by Roemer. “I knew it was wrong and that it shouldn’t have happened. But I was a child. I didn’t know what rape was or what it meant.”

“I wish he could spend the rest of his life in prison,” she added.

The case had been headed to trial, but prosecutors ultimately struck a plea deal to spare the victim from testifying.

Pigeon declined to make a statement or offer an apology.

It’s not the first time Pigeon, a one-time close ally of disgraced former Gov. Cuomo, has been on the wrong side of the law.

In July 2022 he was sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine after being convicted of bribing a state judge.