Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita, III announced that 48 year-old Anthony Chapman of 66 Schmarbeck Avenue, Buffalo, pleaded guilty, as charged, to two counts of Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child in the First Degree before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth F. Case.  These were the highest charges for which Chapman could have been convicted had he gone to trial. In other words, the defendant was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Over the span of nearly seven years, Chapman repeatedly and frequently sexually abused two juvenile victims.  The victims were each nine years old when the abuse began. 

Chapman’s history of sex crimes is rivaled by his ability to escape meaningful punishment. In 1997, Chapman was convicted of Attempted Sexual Abuse in the 1^st Degree in connection with repeatedly fondling the vagina of an 11 year-old child; the sentencing court placed him on probation for five years. In 1999, while on probation, Chapman was convicted of Attempted Failure to Register as a Sex Offender; he not only received a non-jail sentence, but was allowed by the court continue on his probation. In 2008, Chapman was convicted of three counts of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender; once again, the court sentenced him to probation. 

Chapman’s most recent conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 12 years and a maximum of 30 years in state prison when he is sentenced on February 25, 2014. When asked whether he had any regrets, Chapman said he would dearly miss dining at his favorite restaurant, Famous Dave’s BBQ.

The case was successfully prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kristi M. Ahlstrom, who is assigned to DA Sedita’s Special Victims Bureau.