NORWICH – A Unadilla man will be spending the next 10 years behind bars after he was convicted of kidnapping in the second degree, a sexually motivated felony, when the Chenango Court convened for a morning session on Monday, Aug. 15.

Damien M. Schlabsz, 21, appeared in court faced with one count of kidnapping in the second degree, a class B felony; one count of bail jumping in the second degree, a class E felony; one count of unlawful imprisonment in the first degree, a class E felony; criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a class A misdemeanor; and one count of menacing in the second degree, a class A misdemeanor.

These charges stem from an investigation into a 911 call that was placed on Sunday, July 6, 2014, that reported an alleged attack in the Town of Bainbridge. The victim called 911 and claimed that a man came up behind her, then proceeded to knock her to the ground and threatened to slit her throat with a knife if she did not take her pants off. The victim managed to flee the attacker and place the call to the authorities.

Subsequently, Schlabsz, then 19, was arrested by the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation at Sidney. He was originally arraigned in the Town of Bainbridge court and remanded to the custody of the Chenango County Correctional Facility, in lieu of $50,000 cash bail.

After managing to post his bail, Schlabsz fled New York. He was apprehended in Utah on separate charges, and brought back to New York to face his original charges in Jan., 2016. The Honorable Judge Frank B. Revoir Jr. raised Schlabsz's bail to $150,000 cash, or $300,000 bond at that time.

In an agreed upon disposition with the District Attorney's Office, Schlabsz agreed to enter pleas of guilty to the top charge of kidnapping in the second degree and bail jumping.

After he was sworn in, The Honorable Judge Frank B. Revoir Jr., who presided over matters, read the top count of Schlabsz's 2014 indictment. After hearing the allegations, Schlabsz entered a plea of guilty. Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride, who was representing the people of Chenango County in the case, entered some further colloquy with Schlabsz concerning the allegations. McBride asked the defendant if he did, indeed, have a knife on him that day, to which Schlabsz replied yes. McBride then asked if he put the knife to the victim's throat, to which Schlabsz also replied yes. McBride questioned the defendant further, asking if he demanded that the victim take their pants off, to which the defendant said yes, before also admitting to demanding that action for his own sexual gratification.