NORWICH – A Unadilla man will be spending the next 10 years behind bars after he was convicted of kidnapping in the second degree, a sexually motivated felony, when the Chenango Court convened for a morning session on Monday, Aug. 15.

Damien M. Schlabsz, 21, appeared in court faced with one count of kidnapping in the second degree, a class B felony; one count of bail jumping in the second degree, a class E felony; one count of unlawful imprisonment in the first degree, a class E felony; criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a class A misdemeanor; and one count of menacing in the second degree, a class A misdemeanor.

These charges stem from an investigation into a 911 call that was placed on Sunday, July 6, 2014, that reported an alleged attack in the Town of Bainbridge. The victim called 911 and claimed that a man came up behind her, then proceeded to knock her to the ground and threatened to slit her throat with a knife if she did not take her pants off. The victim managed to flee the attacker and place the call to the authorities.

Subsequently, Schlabsz, then 19, was arrested by the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation at Sidney. He was originally arraigned in the Town of Bainbridge court and remanded to the custody of the Chenango County Correctional Facility, in lieu of $50,000 cash bail.