Brighton, N.Y. --- The parents of a sexual abuse victim are no longer facing criminal charges that accused them of failing to protect their child from a known predator.
Both the mother and father of the victim were charged in October with Endangering the Welfare of a Child. Authorities stated that they failed to take steps to protect their 13 year-old from a relative who is a Level 2 Registered Sex Offender in the State of New York.
The boy was sexually abused during his numerous encounters with Jay Kroll, 56 of Long Island, according to criminal charges Kroll now faces.
Police first encountered Kroll in December 2011 after responding to the Rochester Public Market where a witness expressed concern over Kroll being "overly excessive" in touching the boy he was with. Kroll was charged locally for some crimes and a more widespread federal investigation led to sex crimes and pornography charges.
On Wednesday, Kroll was arraigned at a Federal Courthouse on Long Island where he remains in custody. If convicted of the newly indicted charges Kroll faces up to 15 years in federal prison.
Meanwhile, in Brighton, that boy's parents were in Town Court on Wednesday where the charges they faced were dropped. In return for that, the parents will continue educational classes that they've already attended.
"I've been doing this an awful long time and for parents to be charged in a situation where their child had already been victimized was something I never could totally grasp in this case," the couple's lawyer Robert Napier said after court. "(I) didn't understand the value of it or what could possibly come out of it that was in any way a good thing for our community."
Napier and the couple said they were pleased with the resolution of this case and Napier thanked Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley for her role in that outcome. But, the parents also say the process of being criminally charged did create renewed stress and pain at a time when they were trying to heal as a family.
"I know for a fact my clients are absolutely wonderful, kind, caring parents that just adore their child," Napier said. "Everything has to be judged in the context of its time and in this situation at the time my clients simply did not perceive the risk from a close relative who had limited social interaction with their child, who had criminal difficulty some 20 years before. Obviously with the wisdom of hindsight and the input of professionals, they certainly would've done things differently given another opportunity but as far as judging them all I can tell you is they're fantastic parents and had they seen any risk they would've done anything to protect their child."
The father of the child in this case is a federal law enforcement officer.
Napier said that repeated inquiries by social services deemed that "the child remains safe in the care of his parents at this time."
Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley released the following statement on Wednesday:
"Anytime a crime is committed that victimizes a child it's a tragedy, and of course, there's a natural desire to hold those involved accountable. Today's outcome was appropriate given the parent's willingness to attend training and the fact that further prosecution of these charges would have victimized this child a second time. It's my hope that the parents of this child share their experiences with other parents, and that this knowledge prevents other children from being similarly victimized."
