GREENFIELD — A Turners Falls man was sentenced Thursday to 12 to 14 years in prison for aggravated rape and abuse of a child.

Jeffery Fleury, 55, was found guilty by a Franklin County Superior Court jury last month and Judge Michael Callan issued the sentence after hearing arguments from the attorneys involved with the case. Fleury had also been convicted of intimidating a witness, for which he was sentenced to three years of probation.

Assistant District Attorney Lori Odierna, who prosecuted the case with colleague Stephanie Jimenez, asked Callan to sentence Fleury to 18 to 24 years for the rape charge and 10 years probation for witness intimidation. Defense attorney Jennifer Cox asked for her client to receive the mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison.

Odierna said the victim, who was 4 to 6 years old when the offenses occurred, deals with emotional trauma on a daily basis because Fleury, who knew the child, exploited her trust. Odierna also said the girl, who is now 11, kept the crime a secret for at least three years before confiding in her grandmother.

“It’s clear that she has already suffered consequences, and will for a significant amount of time,” Odierna said.

She also mentioned Fleury had a courtroom outburst during his trial.

Cox told Callan she felt 18 to 24 years in prison would be an overly harsh sentence. Fleury’s criminal record consists mainly of vehicle offenses from 1993.

In regards to Odierna’s comment that Fleury once violated a GPS condition of his release, Cox said her client was driving around to tag sales to find items to sell and innocently fell out of compliance because he did not know the victim and her family had moved. Cox also said Fleury’s family was in the courtroom to show their support and his adult daughter testified on his behalf during the trial. Cox also mentioned Fleury has been an active member of an Amherst church.

Fleury looked distraught and occasionally shook his head during the court session, including when Benjamin Simanski, the first assistant clerk magistrate, read the formal sentencing. Upon his release from prison, Fleury must stay 100 yards away from the child and her family.

Fighting back tears, the girl’s mother read a victim-impact statement in which she told Callan that her daughter is not the same child she was before the assault.

“She doesn’t feel normal. She doesn’t feel like an 11-year-old should at that age,” the mother said, adding that her daughter has difficulty trusting men and struggles to relate with classmates because they have not experienced the same trauma. “Our family was turned upside-down by this.”

Callan said it is clear the girl has a loving family.

Odierna read victim-impact statements from the child and her brother. The child said the assault has changed her life in “so many ways” and her brother expressed regret for his perceived failure to protect his younger sister.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

]]>