CANTON — An Ogdensburg man was convicted in St. Lawrence County court Friday, May 19 of multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor.

St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua announced that William LaFlair, 55, of Ogdensburg, was found guilty of four counts of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child by a St. Lawrence County trial jury following a one week trial.

Evidence at the trial established that the defendant began victimizing the survivor of these crimes when they were younger than 5 years old. The abuse lasted for over 5 years.

The defendant subjected the survivor to multiple incidents of sexual contact all of which occurred when they were under the age of 11, the district attorney said.

The evidence also proved that the defendant continued to send the survivor sexually explicit messages after the physical abuse had ended.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on July 20. He faces a maximum sentence of 28 years with the state Department of Corrections.

“I want to commend the survivor of these horrific crimes for having the courage to come forward and report to law enforcement what was happening,” Pasqua said. “The bravery they had to confront their abuser in open court to make sure he was held accountable for what he did is remarkable. I expect that this defendant will never have the opportunity to abuse another person in our community following his sentencing thanks to this survivor. Hopefully seeing what has happened in this case will let others who are being abused, whether they are an adult or child, know that our law enforcement community and my Office are here to help them.”

D.A. Pasqua commended Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Joshua Haberkornhalm and Assistant District Attorney Alex Nichols for their “hard work and skilled prosecution.”

D.A. Pasqua also thanked the Ogdensburg Police Department for their assistance with the prosecution and “excellent work throughout this investigation.”