Kelly L. Alcorn, the off-duty Niagara Falls police officer who admitted to assaulting a woman at Darien Lake concert in the summer of 2012, Thursday was granted a one-year conditional discharge and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.
Alcorn, 48, of Grand Island, also has paid $2,200 in restitution and been ordered to stay away from the victim or face further charges. In November. Alcorn retired from the Niagara Falls Police Department, with her pension, after more than 20 years of service.
Genesee County Judge Robert C. Noonan could have sentenced her to up to a year in jail.
“There are moments in one’s life that unexpectedly change your entire life and this was one of those moments," defense attorney Norman P. Effman said in court. “Where you have someone who has had a distinguished career – six years in the military, two children in the military, 20-plus years in law enforcement – who has made one mistake, and has paid dearly for it.”
He said Alcorn not only faced a criminal conviction, but also humiliation, embarrassment and negative publicity.
When she pleaded guilty Dec. 11 to a reduced charge of third-degree assault third degree, a misdemeanor, Alcorn admitted that she had been intoxicated when she assaulted the woman during the Jason Aldean concert. She originally had been charged with second-degree harassment following the concert.
But when the victim came forward and described the brutality of the attack, charges were upgraded and she faced a felony charge of second-degree assault prior to the plea.
The victim, a Farmington woman who has asked not to be identified, told the Buffalo News in correspondence after the assault that she was walking to the restroom that night when Alcorn grabbed her by the hair, pulled her arms behind her back, slammed her head into a wall and punched her in the head, neck, arm and back. She said she was rolled into a ball and Alcorn continued to attack her, punching her and slamming her head into a concrete wall.
“It scares me to think that a person who lacks control can carry a gun,” the victim wrote.
Following the attack, the victim said, she was overwhelmed by anxiety and afraid to leave her house.
Her account was relayed to the Genesee County District Attorney’s Office, prompting the decision to upgrade charges and leading to an internal investigation by the Niagara Falls Police Department.
Effman said after sentencing that Alcorn is working at a factory job at a significant reduction in pay.
Alcorn received the Niagara Falls Department’s Combat Cross in 2002 and had worked as a jailer before she went on administrative leave.
email: nfischer@buffnews.com
Alcorn, 48, of Grand Island, also has paid $2,200 in restitution and been ordered to stay away from the victim or face further charges. In November. Alcorn retired from the Niagara Falls Police Department, with her pension, after more than 20 years of service.
Genesee County Judge Robert C. Noonan could have sentenced her to up to a year in jail.
“There are moments in one’s life that unexpectedly change your entire life and this was one of those moments," defense attorney Norman P. Effman said in court. “Where you have someone who has had a distinguished career – six years in the military, two children in the military, 20-plus years in law enforcement – who has made one mistake, and has paid dearly for it.”
He said Alcorn not only faced a criminal conviction, but also humiliation, embarrassment and negative publicity.
When she pleaded guilty Dec. 11 to a reduced charge of third-degree assault third degree, a misdemeanor, Alcorn admitted that she had been intoxicated when she assaulted the woman during the Jason Aldean concert. She originally had been charged with second-degree harassment following the concert.
But when the victim came forward and described the brutality of the attack, charges were upgraded and she faced a felony charge of second-degree assault prior to the plea.
The victim, a Farmington woman who has asked not to be identified, told the Buffalo News in correspondence after the assault that she was walking to the restroom that night when Alcorn grabbed her by the hair, pulled her arms behind her back, slammed her head into a wall and punched her in the head, neck, arm and back. She said she was rolled into a ball and Alcorn continued to attack her, punching her and slamming her head into a concrete wall.
“It scares me to think that a person who lacks control can carry a gun,” the victim wrote.
Following the attack, the victim said, she was overwhelmed by anxiety and afraid to leave her house.
Her account was relayed to the Genesee County District Attorney’s Office, prompting the decision to upgrade charges and leading to an internal investigation by the Niagara Falls Police Department.
Effman said after sentencing that Alcorn is working at a factory job at a significant reduction in pay.
Alcorn received the Niagara Falls Department’s Combat Cross in 2002 and had worked as a jailer before she went on administrative leave.
email: nfischer@buffnews.com