ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The former chief counsel to the state Assembly's speaker was sentenced to six years probation and a $1,000 fine Monday for sexual misconduct involving a legislative aide.
In a tearful, angry statement at the sentencing, the 23-year-old victim said Michael Boxley should have faced a much more severe penalty.
"This is a first-degree rape case, not a misdemeanor," she said. The victim's name is being withheld by The Associated Press.
Boxley, 44, left his job with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver after his arrest in June on rape charges alleging he had sex with the woman in her apartment last June when she could not consent. He could have faced 25 years in prison if convicted.
He pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct in December and signed papers Monday to place him on the state's sex offender registry.