BUFFALO, N.Y. — Steve Pigeon, the former Erie County Democratic Party Chairman, who was sentenced to nearly a year in jail for sexually abusing a child more than seven years ago, is now a registered sex offender.
The 63-year-old disgraced politician pleaded guilty last year to one count of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, a class D violent felony.
On Wednesday, a Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) hearing was held to determine Pigeon's status. Pigeon will have to register as a level 1 sex offender. Despite being listed as low risk, Pigeon was designated as a 'sexually violent offender,' according to the Erie County District Attorney's office. That means, Pigeon will be registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Sex offenders on the level 1 are not listed on the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services website.
The crime took place in 2016, according to the District Attorney's Office. The unidentified victim was less than 11-years-old and a person known to Pigeon, according to prosecutors.
During Pigeon's sentencing, prosecutors read a statement from the victim, who was a child at the time of the crime, "He took away practically my whole childhood...I wish that Gerald Steven Pigeon would spend the rest of his life in prison for what he did to me, but we don't always get exactly what we want."
State Supreme Court Justice William Boller accepted a plea deal approved by the victim's family, that had been requested to spare the victim from having to testify at trial.
Pigeon's victim wrote, "The stress of a trial that we almost had was practically debilitating."
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