By ALEX COSTELLO
Sinclair initially faced felony charges of statutory rape after his December arrest, but the charges were reduced to a misdemeanor.
"Owen, certainly, would never do anything inappropriate with someone he believed to be underage," said Sinclair's lawyer Brian Griffin. Griffin said the teen told Sinclair she was over the age of 18, which he said was confirmed through e-mail messages between the teen and Sinclair. "I think the plea basically should indicate to everyone that that is indeed what happened here."
According to Eric Phillips, the communications director for District Attorney Kathleen Rice, Sinclair was still accountable for his actions - having sex with a minor on two separate occasions - even though he didn't know at the time that he was committing a crime. The fact that the girl lied to Sinclair about her age was a mitigating factor in the reduction of charges, Phillips said. But, Phillips said that the law "doesn't recognize that as absolving you from committing the crime."
Because the teen repeatedly lied to police about her age, she is facing charges for criminal impersonation. The teen told police she was 18 when a police officer pulled over Sinclair's car near the Plantation Motel in Island Park on Dec. 30. Upon further investigation, police determined the girl was only 16, and that the two had met for sex twice before at a Lynbrook motel. After his arrest Sinclair was was fired from his $100,000 a year job as a North Hempstead's deputy commissioner of finance - a job he held for only a month.
Sinclair will be sentenced on May 27 and is expected to receive probation, and will not be serving jail time, said Griffin. He will also not have to register as a sex offender, which he would have if he was found guilty of statutory rape, Griffin said.
"I think it's a reasonable resolution without having to go to trial and having to run the risk of some type of conviction and going through the expense and the time of a very long litigation," Griffin said. "I think it's a good way to resolve the case."
Amanda Hoffmann contributed reporting for this story. Comments about this story? ACostello@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.
