ALBANY COUNTY — Harry Bonilla, 33, of Guilderland, was sentenced to 20 years in state prison, to be followed by 20 years of post-release supervision, before Judge Roger D. McDonough in Albany County Supreme Court Tuesday morning.

A parolee and Level 3 violent sex offender, Bonilla lived at 212 Schoolhouse Road when he was arrested on Dec. 12, 2018 by Albany Police for trying to abduct a 16-year-old girl from an Albany street.

Steve Smith, spokesman for the Albany Police Department, told The Enterprise at the time that the incident occurred on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018 at about 7:30 p.m.

Bonilla had been released from prison on parole in May 2018, according to the website of the New York State Department of Corrections.

Smith described events unfolding this way: A 16-year-old girl was walking on the sidewalk on Robin Street, heading toward Sheridan Avenue, when Bonilla pulled up in a sport-utility vehicle, got out and came over to her, and began talking to her. The teen refused to engage him in conversation and walked away.

At that point, Bonilla grabbed her by the wrist and tried to pull her toward his SUV. She was able to fight him off and break free, although during the struggle he struck her in the mouth, causing a laceration. She quickly called police from a location on Sheridan Avenue.

Bonilla was identified through an investigation by the Albany Police Department, assisted by the Guilderland Police, Smith said.

This year, on Feb. 6, a jury found 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.

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

Bonilla had 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.

Executive Assistant District Attorney Jennifer McCanney of the Special Victims Unit prosecuted this case.