UTICA (AP) -- A 14-year-old boy was sentenced to five years of restrictive placement after pleading guilty as a juvenile to criminal charges of second-degree murder and sexual assault in the death of a 2-year-old girl he was babysitting.
Oneida County Family Court Judge James Griffith sentenced Alec Champagne of Whitesboro on Monday.
Champagne will have to spend the first 18 months of his punishment in a secure detention facility, then spend 12 months in looser residential placement, with occasional family and home visits. The state Office of Children and Family Services will determine the rest of the placement.
Champagne has been in a juvenile facility since he was arrested in June 2010 for beating Melissa Calhoun to death inside her Yorkville home. He said he began to beat Melissa because she wouldn't stop crying after he touched her sexually while changing the toddler's diaper.
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