A 30-year-old Clymer man is being held on $200,000 bail at the Chautauqua County Jail after investigators say he raped a 15-year-old girl in the Town of Busti during the summer of 2023. James Miller was arrested Friday on a warrant issued the day before through Busti Town Court, following an investigation by Lakewood-Busti Police.
According to chautauquatoday.com, Miller allegedly engaged in sexual contact with the 15-year-old female, and he was charged with second-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child. He was taken to the Chautauqua County Jail for Centralized Arraignment Program proceedings after his arrest.
A conviction on the second-degree rape charge could carry significant consequences. As reported by the Post-Journal, the charge can lead to two to seven years in state prison, up to 10 years of probation, and fines and court surcharges. None of the potential consequences have been imposed, since the case is only at the arrest stage, and the evidence reviewed does not establish whether Miller has entered a plea or appeared in court since his arrest.
How New York Defines Second-Degree Rape
New York's second-degree rape statute, per the state's Sex Offender Registration Act materials maintained by the Division of Criminal Justice Services, covers sexual contact by someone over 18 with someone under 15, or with a person who is mentally incapacitated. The same source outlines what's sometimes called the Romeo and Juliet defense, an age-proximity argument that lets a defendant claim he or she was less than four years older than the alleged victim when the act occurred. Under that provision, the defendant carries the burden of proving the age gap by a preponderance of the evidence — it is not something prosecutors must disprove.
A conviction also triggers New York's sex offender registration requirements. The state's registry overview explains that Level 1 offenders must register for at least 20 years, while those designated a sexual predator, sexually violent offender or predicate sex offender face lifetime registration, per the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Other Recent Chautauqua County Rape Cases
Miller's arrest is not an isolated case in the region this year. On August 25, during a court appearance, Kennedy man Major Sterns was indicted on three counts of first-degree rape and three counts of third-degree rape, accused of raping a person in Kennedy on May 31, according to observertoday.com. That case, investigated by New York State Police, saw bail set at $150,000 cash, $250,000 property, or $500,000 partially secured at 10 percent, and Sterns was released after posting it.
Last November, 75-year-old Robert K. Braymiller of Cherry Creek was charged with second-degree rape after the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Division investigated a report of sexual misconduct involving a juvenile on November 4, 2025, according to wkbw.com. Braymiller was likewise taken to the Chautauqua County Jail for Centralized Arraignment Program proceedings.
What County Data Shows About Rape Cases
State figures offer a mixed picture of rape cases across Chautauqua County in recent years. The New York Division of Criminal Justice Services reports that rape charges reached a 20-year high of 96 in 2023, before rape cases numbered 69 in 2024 and 32 in 2025 — though the agency's own figures mix case counts and charge counts across different time periods, and the underlying calculation behind a cited 54 percent decrease over two years was not independently verified.
For the first three months of 2026, the division's data shows 16 rape charges filed countywide, including 11 cases in Jamestown and three in Ellicott. New York State Police and the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office each filed two rape charges during that same three-month stretch. State and federal authorities classify rape as one of seven Index crime categories used to track broader crime trends, alongside murder, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft, according to the New York criminal justice knowledge bank.
