Man sentenced to prison time for failing to help abused boy

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GOSHEN – A man who failed to seek medical attention for a 4-year-old boy who had been sexually assaulted and injured by someone else was sentenced Wednesday in Orange County Court to one and a half to three years in prison.

Dennis Terwilliger, 39, of Elmira, had pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree assault, a felony, for failing to seek medical attention for the boy, who had suffered a serious injury that worsened due to Terwilliger’s inaction.

The boy’s mother, Tanya Kling, 32, of West Loris, S.C., pleaded guilty to the same charge.

The boy’s aunt, Tonya Krout, 32, of Lock Haven, Pa., faces felony charges including predatory sexual assault against a child and first-degree criminal sexual act. Prosecutors say she abused the boy in late April while she, Kling and Dennis and Deboara Terwilliger, 38, were staying in a Town of Newburgh house.

Krout has been found incompetent to proceed, and will be sent to a secure psychiatric facility until further notice.

All charges were dismissed against Deboara Terwilliger.

Dennis Terwilliger was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Nicholas De Rosa, in keeping with a negotiated deal. His lawyer, Gary Somerville, said Terwilliger is remorseful, and glad to hear that the boy has been doing better.

“I apologize to the family, and I apologize to the young boy,” Terwilliger said in court. “I’d like to say I’m sorry. There’s nothing else I can do.”

Kling will be sentenced next month.