Crime & Safety
Newburgh 39-Year-Old Gets Life For Sexually Abusing Kids
Four of his victims, one of whom was just nine when Copeland began abusing her, faced him at trial and courageously told their stories.
NEWBURGH, NY — A Newburgh man has been sentenced to life in prison after sexually abusing girls as young as nine.
Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced on Tuesday that Vernon E. Copeland III was sentenced to life in prison by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas for the years-long aggravated sexual assault, enticement, and transportation of a minor.
Copeland was convicted of coercion and enticement of a minor, aggravated sexual abuse, and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in sexual activity following a week-long jury trial in July 2023.
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"For years, Vernon E. Copeland III preyed on some of the most defenseless members of our community," Williams said. "Four of his victims, one of whom was just nine years old when Copeland began abusing her, faced him at trial and courageously told their harrowing stories. This lengthy prison sentence finally holds Copeland accountable for his horrific crimes and the devastating harm and trauma he caused to minor victims and their families."
In a motel, on Thanksgiving Day in 2004, Copeland raped two minors, one of whom was 17 at the time and another of whom was 15 at the time. In 2010, he raped another minor who was 16 at the time in an apartment in Newburgh. From 2016 to 2020, the 36-year-old repeatedly raped and sexually abused a girl when she was between the ages of 9 and 13 years old.
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In 2020, the Newburgh man fled the State of New York when he suspected that law enforcement might be closing in on him. In 2021, he was arrested in Florida and brought back to the Southern District of New York to be prosecuted.
In addition to the prison term, Copeland was sentenced to lifetime supervised release.
Williams praised the efforts of the FBI, the Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, the Town of Newburgh Police Department, and the Tampa Police Department in Tampa, Florida, in connection with this investigation.
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