Man, 49, pleads guilty to raping girl, 14
KINGSTON, N.Y. » A Maryland man who came to Ulster County to have sex with a 14-year-old girl pleaded guilty to rape on Tuesday, according to the county District Attorney’s Office.
Daniel Kenneth Poole, 49, of Port Deposit, Md., pleaded guilty before Judge Donald A. Williams to one count each of rape and criminal sexual act, both felonies, District Attorney Holley Carnright said.
Poole admitted that he engaged in oral sex with the 14-year-old in June 2016 and returned to Ulster County in October 2016 and engaged in sexual intercourse with the same child, Carnright’s office said.
Poole faces up to 11 years in state prison followed by up to 10 years of post-release supervision. He also will be required to register as a sex offender for a minimum of 20 years following his release from prison.
His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 4.
Poole was arrested by Ulster County sheriff’s deputies on Jan. 25 and initially was charged with six counts of rape and seven counts of criminal sexual act.
The Sheriff’s Office said members of its K-9 team, who were conducting a training exercise in Rifton that day, arrested Poole after noticing a vehicle with Maryland license plates and, at the same time, seeing a young female walking in the area. Deputies spoke with the driver and determined he was there to meet the girl, authorities said.
Further investigation found Poole “had been engaging in a sexual relationship” with the girl for about six months and had been traveling to New York to engage in sex acts with her, the Sheriff’s Office said at the time.
Detectives then coordinated with the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland to execute a search warrant at Poole’s home, where additional evidence was found.
Authorities determined Poole had met the girl online and had been engaging in inappropriate exchanges with her for almost a year.