Published: July 14, 2008 12:00 am      

Man alleged in sex abuse, prostitution

A Greene County man was arrested Wednesday on sex abuse and prostitution charges related to alleged incidents involving a former Oneonta girl.

Ray German, 61, of Halcott Center, met the girl's mother over the Internet, and it was during a visit by the mother and daughter to his home in January 2005 that the man fondled the child, said Lt. James Barnes of state police at Sidney.

The mother, now a resident of the Binghamton area, reported the abuse to Endwell state police in May 2007 and told troopers she did not become aware of the abuse until her daughter told her two years later, Barnes said.

The woman only knew German by his first name, Barnes said.

"It took us several months to identify who he was," Barnes said.

The investigation by troopers took more than a year because it involved extensive, forensic computer work, and German's identity and the location of his home were not immediately clear, he said.

Troopers said that German offered the girl money for sex on two occasions, once when she was 10 and again in July 2007 over the Internet, when she was 13.

German was charged with first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree patronizing a prostitute and second-degree patronizing a prostitute, all felonies, and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Under state penal law, a person is guilty of patronizing a prostitute when he pays for sex with another person, agrees to a fee for sex with another person or requests another person to engage in sex with him for a fee. When that person is younger than 11, the charge is first-degree patronizing a prostitute.

The second-degree version of the charge is lodged when the person is younger than 14.

German was arraigned in Halcott Town Court and jailed on $5,000 bail. He is to reappear in court at 7 p.m. Wednesday for a felony hearing.