April 14, 2022 at 1:04 p.m.
Retrial of former NCES custodian accused of child sexual assault set for September
Retrial of former NCES custodian accused of child sexual assault set for September
Iliopoulos, now 69, was convicted of child enticement, false imprisonment and first-degree child sexual assault following a jury trial in Oneida County Circuit Court in September 2019. The charges were filed after a fifth-grade student at NCES reported that he had intercepted her as she was leaving a school restroom in November 2018, forced her into a janitor's closet and kissed her upper chest and stomach area.
Iliopoulos has claimed the child walked into the closet on her own and he physically ejected her after she did not respond to his request that she leave.
He won a new trial earlier this year when Oneida County circuit judge Mike Bloom ruled that his trial attorney, Andrew Morgan, was deficient in failing to seek exclusion of key DNA evidence in the case, among other errors.
Iliopoulos served approximately two years and three months of a 14-year prison sentence before his convictions were vacated in February. He is currently being held in the Oneida County jail on $50,000 cash bail.
A status conference in the case was held on Monday, April 11, at which time Iliopoulos was represented by attorneys Breanna A. Halyburton and Kate Frigo Drury.
At the hearing, Bloom asked district attorney Mike Schiek if there were other matters, besides scheduling the case for a jury trial, to be addressed.
"I think we're ready to pick up where the we left off in a situation like this," Schiek replied.
Drury also asked that a trial date be set, along with a date for a final pretrial conference.
Bloom asked if the retrial could be accomplished in two days, the same length as the first trial. While Schiek thought it was doable, Drury asked for more time.
"Your Honor, the defense will call a DNA analyst, in addition to the state's DNA analyst," Drury said. "Three days would be preferable."
When asked "what month" would be best, Drury replied "as quickly as possible."
Attempts to schedule the trial in June and July were unsuccessful due to scheduling conflicts. When the judge offered Sept. 13, 14 and 15, that worked with everyone's schedules.
A pretrial was then scheduled for Aug. 11. Any pretrial motions will have to be filed before that date.
Schiek told the judge that his office is working to get all the discovery together to turn over to the defense.
"We're looking to get that all together and send it in bulk to Ms. Drury as soon as possible," he said.
Iliopoulos faces up to life in prison if convicted following the new trial.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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