Abuse victims’ parents speak out at sentencing
Gary Craig – Rochester Democrat and Chronicle – USA TODAY NETWORK- in the D&C ib 11/25/22 on page A3
Suicide attempts and debilitating depression. Waves of guilt and sullenness. Childhood exuberance transformed into inexplicable withdrawals from friends and family.
And tears — lot of tears.
These were the painful reactions of the victims of former Hilton Central School District Principal Kirk Ashton’s sexual abuse of nearly two dozen boys, parents said Wednesday at Ashton’s sentencing.
State Supreme Court Justice Alex Renzi sentenced Ashton, who had been principal at Northwood Elementary School, to 63 years in prison, but, prosecutors said, corrections regulations limit the sentence to 20 years. The regulation is dictated by the lower level felonies with Ashton’s convictions.