Jury Convicts 2 For Rape, Sexual Assault

GOSHEN, NY — An Orange County jury convicted two people who were accused sexual assault and rape of a 15-year-old. District Attorney David M. Hoovler said that Franeisha Patterson, 25, of Newburgh, and Cally Graham, 19, of the Bronx, were convicted of multiple charges in connection with the Dec. 12, 2017, forcible rape and sexual assault of a teenage girl in a Newburgh apartment.

Patterson and Graham were both convicted of first-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act, felonies.

In addition, Patterson was convicted of use of a child in a sexual performance, felony.

According to the DA's office, the rape and criminal sexual act charges carry a maximum of 25 years in prison. The use of a child in a sexual performance charge carries a maximum of 7-1/2 to 15 years in prison.

The pair is scheduled to be sentenced April 30.

Two other participants in the crime, Franiqua Patterson and Daniel Wapples, previously pleaded guilty to felonies in connection with the crime.

Franiqua Patterson pleaded guilty to sex trafficking, a felony, with regard to the victim of the rape and another victim.

Wapples pleaded guilty to the rape. They are both awaiting sentences.

Hoovler said the rape victim was, at the time, 15 years old and had been sex trafficked by Franiqua Patterson for about a month before the rape occurred.

On Dec. 12, 2017, the victim went to Franeisha Patterson's apartment in the City of Newburgh where all four defendants were present.

Franeisha Patterson ordered the victim to have sex with Graham, her boyfriend. Franiqua Patterson ordered the victim to have sex with Wapples, who was her boyfriend.

Despite the victim's refusal to comply, both women repeatedly made those demands, police said.

Wapples forcibly raped the 15-year-old, while Graham forcibly orally sodomized her, authorities said.

Both women watched from a nearby couch, while Franiqua Patterson recorded what was happening on her cellphone, police said.

The victim cried during the incident, while the four defendants repeatedly yelled, laughed and cursed at her, authorities said.

Hoovler said that forcible rape and sexual assault, under any circumstances, are despicable crimes.

"But to participate in crimes like that, while they're being committed against a trafficked teenager, and while they're being recorded, that conduct sinks to another level of depravity," he said.

"My office will continue to make every possible effort to prosecute those who commit sex crimes, so that juries, like the one in this case, can bring closure to sexual assault victims, and bring the perpetrators of sex crimes the justice they deserve," Hoovler said.

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Photo caption: From left, Franeisha Patterson and Cally Graham. Photo credit: Orange County District Attorney's Office.