ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) — The Albany County District Attorney is pursuing a case against 55-year-old James Yerdon, accusing him of sexually assaulting two boys over a multi-year period in the capital region.
Yerdon was previously convicted for possessing child pornography in 2004, which classified him as a level one sex offender according to Jefferson County records. The father of a recent alleged target said he had no idea about Yerdon’s past.
“He was there during everything to do with us raising our son, and he played a very big part in my son’s life,” said the father of an alleged target.
The father of an alleged target said he’d known Yerdon for 10 years, first meeting through some community theater connections. He called Yerdon a former trusted friend of the family.
“There were people that were around us that knew of his past and didn’t think to tell us,” said the father of an alleged target. “Because they trusted that he had told us.”
Yerdon’s now facing charges of raping one child and the sexual abuse of another in Albany County between 2023 and 2025.
“I didn’t know anything about it until after I heard about the arrest,” said the father of an alleged target. “Had I known, he never would have been near my son, near my family.”
According to Jefferson County records, after Yerdon’s conviction for promoting the obscene sexual performance of a child in November 2003 in Carthage, N.Y., he was classified as a level one sex offender, which would keep him off the searchable sex offender registry website.
Lawyer Greg Rinckey said level one offenders are required to register with the state but are not on the sex offender registry website. To check if someone is a level one offender, a concerned individual would need to call DCJS.
“Level two and level three [offenders] do have to register, it is publicly searchable,” said Rinckey. “…So there’s additional precautions for level two and level three.”
Level three offenders are additionally required to contact local police every 90 days for photo and address updates.
According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, after 20 years level one offenders can be removed from the registry if they don’t reoffend or violate the terms of probation. DCJS said on a phone call that they could not currently see Yerdon on the registry.
For people who want to check if someone is on the sex offender registry, individuals can call DCJS with a full name and additional identifier like a birthday, drivers license number or social security number.
