Poughkeepsie man sentenced to 20 years for sexually abusing children

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Dutchess County District Attorney's Office announced that Natalio Figueroa of Poughkeepsie was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in prison in a sex crime case involving children. Figueroa, 59, pleaded guilty on February 21.

Figueroa admitted to forcing a child younger than 11 to engage in multiple sexual acts in Poughkeepsie between March 2014 and March 2017. He also confessed to trying to have sex with a child younger than 13 in October 2019.

"This defendant committed acts of pure evil - calculated, predatory abuse that shattered the innocence of two defenseless children," Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi stated. "The trauma these victims endured is unimaginable, and no sentence can truly measure the devastation left behind. But today’s outcome ensures that this predator will not walk free for a very long time."

Figueroa pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted rape and second-degree sexual conduct against a child. Judge Edward McLoughlin additionally ordered him to serve 20 years of probation following his release from prison, at which time he must also register as a sex offender. Senior Assistant District Attorney Joseph Gruner prosecuted the case.