Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III announces that an Erie County Jury has convicted 45-year-old Michael Kabiona, of 241 Breckenridge St. in the City of Buffalo, of Course of Sexual Conduct against a Child in the First Degree (a continuing offense). This is the highest charge for which the defendant could have been convicted.

Kabiona repeatedly raped and sodomized his step-daughter over a two-year period, starting when she was 9 years-old. The sickening course of conduct caused chronic injuries to the victim’s genitalia. Kabiona’s crimes came to light after the victim disclosed the horrific details of her repeated abuse to an afterschool aide.

Hardly a so-called “slam dunk,” the only direct evidence of the defendant’s crime came from the testimony of the child victim, which was corroborated by other circumstantial and medical evidence. Despite the challenges of the case, the District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the defendant to the fullest extent of the law. Kabiona faces a maximum of 25 years in state prison when he is sentenced on June 15, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. before Judge D’Amico.

The case was successfully prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Lynette Reda and Ryan Haggerty, both of whom are assigned to DA Sedita’s Special Victims Bureau.