By Brittany Grove

Sun Staff Writer

bgrove@evesun.com

NORWICH- Matthew W. Bullock, 42, Greene, was sentenced at Chenango County Court on Nov. 18 by Judge Frank B. Revoir Jr. Before court proceedings, a large group of Bullock’s family and friends filed down the last row in the courtroom, taking up 11 seats, and awaited the fate of their loved one.

Bullock was convicted of two counts of the class D felony of criminal sexual act in the second degree; and the class A misdemeanor of endangering the welfare of a child on Sept. 16, after a three-day bench trial. It was alleged that Bullock engaged in a criminal sexual act with a person under the age of 15 in March, 2012.

During the trial, the mother of the teenage male victim said that her son suffers from ADHD and a slight case of autism and that she, her son and her other children lived with Bullock at his residence in Greene when the alleged crimes took place.

The teenage boy testified that Bullock watched “Star Trek” with the him in Bullock’s bedroom, where the only TV in the house was located, and engaged in various sexual acts with him on more than one occasion. Bullock admitted that it was inappropriate for an adult man and a teenage boy to share a bed, but testified that he did not engage in the sexual acts that the teenage boy said he did.

A former girlfriend of Bullock testified that the teenage boy and Bullock spent a lot of time together and that their relationship seemed inappropriate. She said that it even caused problems in their relationship. She testified that she had witnessed inappropriate touching between the two, including them rubbing each other’s shoulders.

The defense argued that Bullock had planned on moving to Florida and evicting the teenage boy and his family. The mother and the boy, who had grown attached to Bullock, were upset by this. Bullock’s lawyer, Scott Clippinger, said that they wanted to get revenge on Bullock and said that there were inconsistencies with the teenage boy’s statement about when and what happened between him and Bullock.

“The nature of the crimes and the acts committed are very serious. I understand that because of the nature of the crimes, the defendant may not want to admit to them publicly or even privately to family. He has not accepted responsibility for the crimes he has committed, even after receiving punishment,” said District Attorney Joe McBride.

He went on to say that Bullock needs to be removed from society for a period of time in order to protect the community and punish Bullock for the crimes he has committed. He also said that the victim and his family were not here but would ask the judge to consider the statements they made in the pre-sentencing report.