New York Man cleared in old murder accused of sex abuse Innocence Project showed DNA linked girl's murder to another man

By Ben Dobbin Associated Press GREECE, N.Y. (AP) -- Frank Sterling spent nearly 19 years behind bars for a 1988 slaying he didn't commit. With a cry of "I made it!" he walked out of court on a spring afternoon last year after DNA testing exonerated him and instead pointed to a man who strangled a 4-year-old girl in 1994. Fifteen months later, the 47-year-old former truck driver returned to court in upstate New York last week on charges of sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy. Looking grim, Sterling stubbed out a cigarette and strode past his longtime attorney, Donald Thompson, into a municipal court in the Rochester suburb of Greece. Thompson turned toward a media scrum and described the charges as baseless. Arrested last week, Sterling pleaded not guilty and was released on $5,000 bail on seven misdemeanor counts of sexually abusing an acquaintance under age 14. In a two-minute court appearance, a judge set a Sept. 22 date to argue motions. "We don't have any of the specifics as far as the allegations go," Thompson said afterward. "He thinks (the allegations) are bogus. He didn't do it." If convicted, Sterling could face up to a year in jail. Greece police maintain Sterling, whose 1992 murder conviction was vacated by a judge in April 2010, had sexual contact with the boy on several occasions in June and July that year. The contact over his and the boy's clothes took place in Sterling's vehicle and in a boat they took on fishing tips, investigators said. The boy has since turned 12. While in prison, Sterling developed an epilepsy-like disorder and narcolepsy, which causes excessive drowsiness and sometimes induces sleep at inappropriate times. No longer able to drive a truck, he's tried in vain to find work in the computer field. "He's been trying to get employment but that is difficult when you have an 18 1/2-year gap in your resume. People want to know about that," Thompson said. After a series of court battles over the 1988 slaying, prosecutors agreed with lawyers for the Innocence Project that DNA evidence obtained from the victim's clothing excluded Sterling as the killer and instead implicated Mark Christie, who got a life sentence in 1997 for strangling 4-year-old Kali Ann Poulton. The organization uses DNA evidence to clear people wrongfully convicted of crimes. Authorities say Christie confessed last year to bludgeoning to death Viola Manville, 74, as she walked along a rural trail in Hilton, another Rochester suburb, on Nov. 29, 1988. He hasn't yet been charged, but attorneys expect a grand jury to take up the case this year. Sterling is seeking unspecified damages in state court for wrongful conviction, but it could be years before he gets any payout. "I think liability is not really in question," Thompson said. "It's going to be what are the appropriate damages once Mark Christie actually gets indicted." Sterling confessed to Manville's killing during an all-night interrogation in July 1991, but later claimed he had slipped into a hypnotic state and parroted details police gave him about the crime. After so many years of protesting his innocence, he said on his release that he felt anger and relief when told he was being freed. "Yeah, I'm mad," he said. "I'm glad he (Christie) finally did the right thing. Wish it was a little sooner." Published: Mon, Aug 1, 2011