A Rocky Hill father, former pilot and Boy Scout leader was sentenced to eight years in prison Monday for having sexual contact with two boys. “You are, in fact, guilty of a heinous crime,” Judge Arthur Hadden told Mark Alexander, 36. “You have to pay the price of that.” He sentenced Alexander to eight years in prison, followed by eight years of special parole, as Alexander’s wife, Francesca, wept. Alexander had previously pleaded no contest to charges of first-degree illegal possession of child pornography and risk of injury to a minor.
Alexander was originally charged with one count of first-degree sexual assault, 20 counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, 21 counts of risk of injury to or impairing the morals of a child by sexual conduct, and four counts of employing a minor in an obscene performance and one other charge.A former pilot who also was an assistant Boy Scout leader, Alexander molested the boys during a period when they were between the ages of 10 and 16, court documents said. The contact occurred under the guise of checking the boys for ticks, according to the warrant for his arrest. He also measured the boys genitalia and took pictures, one of which had his hand in it, prosecutor Brett Salafia said.After police began investigating in November 2011, they found child pornography on Alexander’s computer. In all, police found 1,599 images of child pornography and 27 videos.Salafia took the unusual step of describing the sexual activities of the children who appeared in three of the videos because Alexander in a pre-sentencing interview claimed the state lacked evidence. He also rebutted Alexander’s claim that the prosecution was racially motivated, saying he didn’t know Alexander was African-American when he reviewed the arrest warrant application. Salafia also noted that the victims, too, were African-American.Hadden agreed with Salafia that “the evidence was overwhelming.””You don’t seem to understand the nature of your crime,” the judge told Alexander. Children who are abused “have serious mental repercussions that last a lifetime,” he said.Alexander dabbed his eyes with a tissue as his mother and wife pleaded for leniency. Four people in all spoke in support of him.The Hartford Courant, Christine Dempsey
