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Goshen man sentenced to prison for child sexual abuse

GOSHEN – A Goshen man who previously pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a child was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison by an Orange County court on Wednesday.

Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler announced the sentence against Craig Merlock, 45, of Goshen.

Merlock pleaded guilty in May to sexual abuse of a child, a felony.

Merlock admitted during the trial that he had oral sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 13 on July 23, 2023, at which time he was at least 18 years old.

At the verdict, citizens had proposed that Merlock be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, the maximum sentence allowed by law.

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Under the terms of the sentence, Merlock must also register as a sex offender.

“This defendant's admitted conduct rightly resulted in one of the harshest sentences available in the legal system,” Hoovler said in a statement released by his office. “While nothing can ever make up for what was lost to the victim as a result of the defendant's actions, it is nevertheless important to the safety of our community that this offender be removed from society for as long as possible.”

The name of Merlock's attorney was not immediately available.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at [email protected].

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