Phelps man found guilty of sexual abuse of child; face 10 to 25 years in prison

ONTARIO COUNTY, NY – A Phelps man faces between 10 and 25 years in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting a child.

Tristin Elliott, 27, was found guilty by an Ontario County jury Friday of predatory sexual assault of a child. From 2014 to 2017, he assaulted a child under the age of 13.

The jury deliberated for two days before finding Elliott guilty.

According to Ontario County District Attorney James Ritts, who prosecuted the case, Elliott maintained the victim’s silence by threatening to “leave her in the woods with the monsters.”

“After enduring years of abuse, her fear of the monsters in the forest was finally less than her fear of the monster that was abusing her, and she shared the horrific story of her sexual abuse,” Ritts explained. “Tristin Elliott is the exact reason why the crime of predatory sexual assault against a child exists in our state. He is absolutely a predator. A maximum sentence of life in prison cannot give back what he took from this child.”

“I am in awe of the strength this little child showed as she told the jury and an entire courtroom about the horrors she endured at the hands of Tristin Elliott,” said Assistant District Attorney Kaitlin Hastings, who is prosecuting the case Ritts pursued.

Elliott will be sentenced Jan. 8 before Ontario County Judge Kristina Karle.