Former Oswego Mayor John Gosek lost his appeal to lower his sex offender designation.
The State Appellate Division, which is the state’s second highest court, upheld a lower court ruling that gave Gosek a level 2 designation.
The state rates offenders on a three-level scale. Level 1 offenders are judged to be a low risk for committing another sex offense. Level 2 offenders are believed to be of moderate risk to reoffend, while level 3 offenders are believed to be at high risk of committing another sex crime.
In its order, released Friday afternoon, the justices of the Appellate Division turned down Gosek’s appeal that he should be a level 1 offender because of “…clear and convincing evidence that defendant used the telephone to induce underage females to engage in sexual activity with him; that on one occasion he met with an undercover officer to arrange for the provision of drugs in exchange for sex; and that, on another occasion, he made arrangements to meet two females for sex, believing that they were 15 years of age, and he was arrested at the hotel where they were to meet. We further conclude that the court’s “oral findings are supported by the record and sufficiently detailed to permit intelligent review…”
In 2005, Gosek resigned as Mayor after federal authorities charged him with attempting to give underaged girls money and drugs in exchange for sex. He got out of prison in 2009 after serving nearly 3 years.
He was judged to be a level 2 sex offender by County Court Judge Walter Hafner, who said that the lower-level designation wasn’t appropriate, given the circumstances of the crime.
The level 2 designation means Gosek will remain on the sex offender registry for at least 30 years, when he can appeal to be removed. However, Gosek will be 95 years old then.
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