SCHENECTADY - A Mayfield man was sentenced Friday to 100 years to life in state prison in connection with a 2021 Schenectady child rape case, Schenectady County District Attorney's officials said.Â
Joshua Hodgson, 43, of Mayfield, was handed the term by Judge Mark Caruso after Hodgson's conviction in January on a host of charges related to an ongoing criminal sexual relationship he had with a 13-year-old girl, prosecutors said.
The jury convicted him of a total of 20 felonies, along with three misdemeanors in the case on a host of charges related to the child, prosecutors said.
The judge handed down the essentially life term after finding Hodgson to be a "persistent felon" due to his lengthy criminal history.
In sentencing Hodgson, Judge Caruso called Hodgson a "persistent menace to society" and called Hodgson's repeated crimes against the child "horrific," prosecutors said in a release.
The judge also heard from the victim's grandmother in court, as she called Hodgson a "predator" and "monster," according to prosecutors.
Her granddaughter remains in counseling due to Hodgson's crimes, the grandmother told the court, according to prosecutors.Â
Hodgson himself also addressed the judge, but described himself as the victim and indicated he had no remorse, according to prosecutors.
Hodgson had been a long-time friend of the child's father and the father had allowed Hodgson to move in to a spare bedroom "in an act of kindness to help Mr. Hodgson with a place to live and got him a job," prosecutors wrote in a release.
After moving in, though, Hodgson groomed the girl and the committed physical sexual assaults of the child while living there, prosecutors said.
When Hodgson moved out in August 2021, he then continued with an inappropriate online sexual relationship through that Sept. 15, 2021, when the child confirmed to family and law enforcement what was happening, prosecutors said.
It had come to light when Hodgson sent several threatening messages to the child and her father demanding the return of a silver chain cross necklace that he had gifted to the child, prosecutors said.
The girl was then interviewed at the Schenectady County Child Advocacy Center by a trained child forensic interviewer. The case was then investigated by multiple detectives from the Schenectady Police Department's Youth Aid Bureau.
Hodgson, when interviewed by Schenectady Police Det. Timothy Rizzo, admitted having a relationship with the girl, but denied it was sexual. An analysis of his cell phone, however, revealed dozens of sexual images and videos of the child and hundreds of pages of inappropriate chat messages between him and the victim, prosecutors said.
In a statement later, Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney commented on the judge's sentencing.
"Judge Caruso clearly felt that Mr. Hodgson needs to be removed from society for the rest of his life and given his career of crime, character and stated lack of remorse for his actions, it is hard to argue with his conclusion," Carney said.
Schenectady County District Attorney's Special Victim's Bureau Chief John J. Carson prosecuted. Hodgson was represented by attorney Gennaro D. Calabrese.