GUILDERLAND — On Feb. 6, a jury found Harry Bonilla guilty of two felonies — second-degree attempted kidnapping as a sexually motivated felony and first-degree sex abuse — and a misdemeanor, third-degree assault.

The case was heard before Judge Roger D. McDonough in Albany County Supreme Court.

Bonilla, 33, had been living at 212 Schoolhouse Road in Guilderland and had been released on parole in May, about six months before the attempted abduction. 

The jury heard testimony and reviewed evidence last week before concluding that, on Dec. 4, 2018, while near the corner of Robin Street and Sheridan Avenue in Albany, Bonilla tried to abduct a 16-year-old girl who was a stranger to him, “for the purposes of his own sexual gratification,” the Albany County District Attorney’s Office wrote in a release.

Bonilla approached the girl and grabbed her in a sexual manner while trying to lure her into his vehicle, but the girl was able to fight back and get away, the release said. 

Bonilla, who is a registered Level 3 sex offender based previous attempted abduction convictions, faces up to 25 years to life when sentenced as a potential persistent violent felon when sentenced on March 20.

Level 3 sex offenders are those, on a three-level scale, deemed most dangerous and most likely to reoffend. 

Bonilla has been convicted twice before of crimes against children, both involving the use of force and both targeting children he knew, according to the state’s sex offender registry.

In 2009, he was convicted of kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment for an incident involving a 15-year-old girl who was known to him; in that attack, he used a blunt object, the sex offender registry says, adding that Bonilla hit the victim with his hand or fist or a club. He was sentenced to five years in state prison.

In 2016, he was convicted of second-degree attempted course of sexual conduct against a child; the victim was a 13-year-old girl who was known to him, according to the registry. Force was used, the registry says, noting that Bonilla “immediately and physically overpowered” the victim. He was sentenced to 30 months in state prison.