Wrongfully Convicted Danbury Man Awarded $170,000 by State

A Danbury man wrongfully convicted of exposing himself to a girl at the Newtown public library in December 2001 has been awarded $170,000 by the state, the Hartford Courant reports. Michael Seri was awarded the amount after his case was dismissed nearly 13 years ago.

Seri filed the $395,000 claim after being released from prison in 2003. He served six-and-a-half months in prison.

In the claim filed with the state’s claims commissioner, Seri said he struggled financially and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after his release. The decision released Tuesday commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr. said, “I offer my sincerest apologies to Mr. Seri for the burden that he was forced to endure and wish him the best of luck for the future,” the Courant reports.

At the time of his conviction, Seri, a military veteran was enrolled in a school in New York and he often did school work at the library.

Vance calculated the award of $370,000 for Seri and subtracted $200,000 in damages he previously recovered from the town of Newtown.

Read the full story at the Hartford Courant