Crossley sentenced to 10 years for molesting minors

Former Lisbon man had rejected plea deal that would have called for six months in prison

Douglas R. Crossley Jr.’s three young daughters cried, “We love you, Daddy,” as he was taken into custody Thursday to begin serving a 10-year prison term for sexually assaulting five underage girls between 2003 and 2010 at his former home in Lisbon.

The daughters, ages 10, 13 and 14, and Crossley’s wife, Danay, begged New London Superior Court Judge Barbara Bailey Jongbloed for leniency during the sentencing hearing for the 41-year-old former mortgage broker and soccer coach.

“Me and my sisters love our daddy so much, we run up to him as soon as he gets home to see who could give him the first kiss,” the 10-year-old said.

The wife said Crossley is the family’s sole source of income and they would be forced to apply for food stamps and other government aid if he was incarcerated.

But one of the victims, a grown woman, said in her statement to the

court that she came forward years after Crossley molested her in order to protect his children and other young girls.

“When we started this process, they (the kids) were at the heart of it all,” she said.

Other one-time members of Crossley’s inner circle seethed when he appeared to attack them verbally while standing at a lectern and reading from a prepared statement. Crossley claimed he is falsely accused of “the most disgusting and vile crimes,” and had gotten into a heated argument with a group of his accusers weeks before his arrest. He said some of them followed him and harassed him on social media while his case was pending.

A six-member jury had found him guilty of five counts of risk of injury to a minor after the five victims testified about sexual incidents that often occurred after Crossley gave them alcohol and consumed it himself. They were all under 16 at the time.

In taking his case to trial — which he described as “standing my ground” — Crossley turned down an offer from prosecutor Theresa Anne Ferryman to plead guilty in exchange for six months in prison, five years of probation and registration as a sex offender. At sentencing, he faced a maximum prison sentence of 100 years, which is up to 20 years for each felony count of risk of injury to a minor.

His attorney, Max Simmons, asked the judge for a fully suspended prison sentence followed by a period of probation. The defense had hired David D’Amora, former director of the Center for the Treatment of Problem Sexual Behavior in Middletown, to assess Crossley’s risk of reoffending. D’Amora determined Crossley was at low risk of reoffending and is a good candidate for sex offender treatment. Crossley had no previous criminal record and always had supported his family, most recently by working for a car dealership in the Mechanicsville, Va., area, where they relocated after Crossley’s mortgage business failed.

Ferryman recommended an unspecified period of incarceration, followed by supervision and registration as a sex offender. She said the rest of Crossley’s life, during which he appears to be a devoted father and husband, is at odds with the “incomprehensible, insidious period of time” during which he committed the offenses.

The victims had testified that Crossley sexually assaulted them when they babysat or attended parties at his home at 23 Lee Road. They said he and his wife offered them alcohol and told them about sexual threesomes in which they had participated. They said he constantly commented on their breasts and grabbed their breasts and genitals over and under their clothing.

Judge Jongbloed said in crafting Crossley’s sentence, she took into account his background, lack of a prior criminal record, letters of support from friends and relatives and Crossley’s impressive employment history. She said she was considering the victim’s statements and recommendations that the Department of Adult Probation made in a presentencing report.

The judge said she understood his claim of innocence, but credited the jury’s finding that Crossley was guilty of taking advantage of five minors over a period of years.

“As demonstrated by the number of victims, this was not an isolated incident,” she said.

Crossley will be on strict probation for 10 years following his release from prison and is required to register as a sex offender. The judge issued a standing criminal protective order that prohibits him for life from having contact with the victims.