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Cattaraugus County District Attorney Lori Rieman seems to have won the Republican primary to retain her spot, beating current public defender Mark Williams by a large margin. Unofficial results from the board of elections show Rieman with 2,104 votes to 864 for Williams. Only 17 percent of the county’s registered Republicans voted. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

An Olean man accused of having sex with a child younger than 11 pleaded not guilty this morning in Cattaraugus County Court. 37-year-old Alex Belec also allegedly recorded people dressing or undressing between 2006 and 2007, according to District Attorney Lori Rieman. He’s charged with sexual abuse, course of sexual conduct against a child, and unlawful surveillance, which are all felonies. The matter has been adjourned for motions.

An Olean man accused of engaging in sex acts with a child and using a device to record a person dressing or undressing has been indicted by a Cattaraugus County grand jury. Alex Belec, who turnd 37 today, is accused of engaging in two or more sex acts with a child younger than 11 between July of 1997 through 2002 in Olean. Belec is also accused of using an imaging device to view, broadcast or record a person dressing or undressing “for his own sexual arousal or gratification,” according to a news release from District Attorney Lori Rieman. Belec will be arraigned on June 13.

An Olean man has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for having sex with a child younger than 13. 34-year-old Timothy Jerge had sex with the child between 2004 and 2009 in the city of Olean. Jerge will also be on probation for 10 years when get gets out of prison. District Attorney Lori Rieman said she would like to thank St. Michael Marsfelder and Officer Sean Paar of the Olean Police as well as the Southern Tier Child Advocacy Center for their hard work on the case.

A Buffalo man already in Allegany County Jai on a robbery charge has pleaded guilty to injuring a police officer on an unrelated case. Cattaraugus County District Attorney Lori Rieman says 22-year-old Zachary Barrett attempted to prevent a police officer from performing his duty on May 25, and injured the officer in the process. He’ll be sentenced on March 14. Barrett is currently in jail for robbing a pizzeria in Angelica and the Rushford Corner store at gunpoint.

A Delevan man has been found guilty of strangling his elderly neighbor to death a year ago. 43-year-old Melvin Stephenson was on trial for killing 80-year-old Wilbur Norton inside his Delevan Terrace Apartment last December. After six days of testimony, the jury deliberated for nearly two days before returning the guilty verdict. Stevenson facings a sentence of 25 years to life when he’s sentenced on January 31. District Attorney Lori Rieman credits the “outstanding job performed by members of the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department, as well as various members of the Delevan/Yorkshire community in securing the conviction” on second-degree murder, manslaughter and robbery charges.

An Olean man has pleaded guilty to drug charges in Cattaraugus County Court. District Attorney Lori Pettit Rieman says on December 16, in Olean, Joseph Dempsey Jr. attempted to possess crack cocaine. He'll be sentenced May 3.

Cattaraugus County officially has its first female district attorney. Machias native Lori Rieman took the oath of office this afternoon in Ellicottville. Rieman was first assistant district attorney for eight years under outgoing DA Ed Sharkey, who she beat by a 2 to 1 margin in November's election. One of the cases she'll tackle in her new job involves the death of 80-year-old Wilbur Norton of Delevan, who was killed in his apartment last month. An arrest has not been made yet.

It seems Olean will have a new mayor next year. According to unofficial numbers posted by the Cattaraugus County Board of Elections, Linda Witte beat incumbent David Carrucci by a count of 1808 to 1623. With 74 of 79 districts in the county reporting, challenger Lori Rieman has a lead of 7730 to 4709 over incumbent district attorney Ed Sharkey.