Elston sentenced to 28 years for kidnapping and rape
RENSSELAERVILLE A young man who was arrested for kidnapping and rape after escaping from Rensselaervilles Camp Cass Residential Center has received nearly the maximum sentence for the crimes.
Michael Elston, 16, of 130 Spring Street, Buffalo, was sentenced on July 21 before Judge Stephen W. Herrick for the felony charges of first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping.
He received seven years in prison for the kidnapping charge and 20 years for the rape charge. The terms will run consecutively and are one year short of the 28-year maximum.
After prison, Elston will face 10 years of post release supervision. He will also be required to register as a sex offender and was given a 25-year court order of protection, prohibiting him from making any contact with the victim of his attack.
"The guy’s life is effectively over," said Richard Arthur, spokesman for Albany County District Attorney David Soares.
On May 27, Elston pleaded guilty to the charges.
According to the Albany County Sheriffs Department, in late December, Elston forced a 51-year-old female kitchen worker from Camp Cass into an office and forcibly raped her. Elston then had the worker get him a kitchen knife from a locked cabinet, the sheriffs department says.
Elston and the woman left the camp in her car, the sheriffs department says, and he held her at knifepoint during the drive from Rensselaerville to Albany, where he ordered her to stop so he could use the phone.
Once Elston finished using the phone, the sheriffs department says, he ordered her back into the car, and, as she entered the car, she kicked at Elston and was able to drive away. She drove to the sheriffs station in Voorheesville, the sheriffs department says.
Camp Cass is run by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. It has a capacity for 25 males, ages 14 to 17, a Camp Cass spokesman told The Enterprise after the escape. The spokesman would not comment on the incident.
In a statement, Soares said he was pleased with Elston’s sentence. He referred to Elston as a "ticking time bomb."
