Sexual predator sentenced to jail

POUGHKEEPSIE - Staatsburg resident Kevin Millsaps, 23, convicted of sexually abusing an 11-year-old Amenia girl last year, was sentenced last week in county court in Poughkeepsie.

Sexual predator sentenced to jail

Judge Thomas Dolan sentenced Millsaps to eight years in prison, to be followed by five years of post-release supervision.

"When he is within a few months of being released at the end of his sentence, he will be returned to the sentencing court to have his risk level determined by a judge, and that will determine how often he has to check in with the authorities," said Dolan’s senior court clerk, Linda Dorrer. "When he is released from prison, he will be handled by a parole officer handling a case load of sex offenders."

Millsaps was arrested after he drove away with the young girl, and a 12-year-old friend of hers, also from Amenia, from the Amenia Cumberland Farms on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2007. He reportedly met the girls through the Internet site, MySpace, which allows users to post photos and biographies about themselves while they can choose to collect or stay in contact with "friends."

The girls reappeared Monday around 5 p.m. at the Cousins Mini Market in Wassaic, on Route 22. The father of the 12-year-old said his daughter phoned home for help, although she said Millsaps had offered the girls a ride home. The father said to "absolutely not" get back into the car with him. When sheriff’s deputies arrived, Millsaps was already gone. But the girls were there, ready to be taken home.

Minutes later, deputies stopped and arrested Millsaps without incident.

Initial reports said the girls were safe and unharmed, but by the next day, rape charges were filed against Millsaps.

Millsaps entered a guilty plea on Dec. 19 to a single felony count of criminal sexual act in the first degree, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years. According to Millsaps, he had been with the two girls in his car and had oral sex with one of them in the Wassaic MetroNorth railroad station parking lot.

Later reports stated that Millsaps also took the two girls to the home of Joshua Bauer, 23, of Rhinebeck, where Bauer reportedly dared the girls to perform sexual acts with Millsaps. Bauer admitted in May he let Millsaps use his Rhinebeck home to play a game of "Truth or Dare" with the girls.

For his involvement, Bauer pled guilty to a single count of attempted criminal facilitation, for which he was guaranteed a sentence not to exceed six months in jail and five years on probation (in exchange for his plea). He has yet to be sentenced.

The victims were not present at the court hearing Jan. 17, but the parents of the victims were. They read statements, but asked their names and their statements be withheld from the press.

Millsaps also made a statement to the judge, in which he apologized for his actions.

Dorrer said hehas already started to serve his time. He served some time leading up to the sentencing, for which he will receive credit. He will not, however, be eligible for parole until he serves his full sentence.

Millsaps is being held at the Dutchess County Jail, where he will remain for a couple of weeks until he is transferred to the Department of Correctional Services and then sent to a correctional facility for specialized treatment for sex offenders.