A 38-year-old Hermon man already sitting in St. Lawrence County jail on a rape charge tied to a 2010 incident is now facing a fresh set of felony charges stemming from a separate case in 2024. James Tebeau was arraigned in St. Lawrence County Court and ordered held without bail after the St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Office added charges of first-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse, and third-degree rape.
The new charges stem from a sheriff's office investigation into a 2024 incident in which Tebeau allegedly had sexual intercourse with a minor under 17 years old, according to North Country Now. As WWNY reports, Tebeau was returned to the St. Lawrence County jail following his arraignment on the new counts.
A Prior Case Already Pending
Tebeau was first arrested in September 2025 on a Class B felony charge of first-degree rape connected to an alleged 2010 incident, when investigators say he was 22 and the alleged victim was 10 years old. That earlier arrest, which led to his initial detention on $5,000 cash bail in Ogdensburg City Court, was detailed by the same North Country Now report. He was already being held in the county jail on that charge when the newer counts were filed.
The sheriff's office said its investigation determined that Tebeau reportedly had sex with the 10-year-old when he was 22, per the earlier account from the station's report. That earlier case is only able to move forward in court because of how New York law treats child sexual abuse allegations. Under state Unified Court System guidelines, the Child Victims Act allows felony prosecutions for child sexual abuse until a victim turns 28, and offenses involving victims under age 11 generally carry no statute of limitations at all under Criminal Procedure Law § 30.10(2)(a), according to New York Courts.
What the Charges Carry
First-degree rape is classified under New York Penal Law § 130.35 as a Class B violent felony, carrying a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 5 years and up to 25 years upon conviction, along with mandatory sex offender registration, according to Perez Justice Law. The third-degree rape charge falls under a different section of the penal code: Penal Law § 130.25 defines that offense as sexual intercourse when the defendant is 21 or older and the victim is under 17, a Class E felony carrying up to 4 years in prison, per Lerner & Lerner, P.C.
St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua serves as the lead county prosecutor responsible for presenting felony cases in St. Lawrence County Court, where Tebeau was remanded, according to Law & Crime. Tebeau is being held at the St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility in Canton, a 93,000-square-foot direct-supervision jail that opened in May 2009 with capacity for 164 single cells under Sheriff Rick Engle, per county records.
The Judge Behind the Bench
The judge who presided over Tebeau's arraignment and ordered him held without bail, St. Lawrence County Court Judge Gregory P. Storie, was publicly censured by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct in April 2024 for judicial misconduct. The commission found Storie had improperly told attorneys in chambers that he would impose a maximum sentence to satisfy media and victim expectations during a 2022 murder trial, Law & Crime reported.
Storie had also received a confidential warning from the commission in December 2022, prior to the 2024 censure, for failing to recuse himself from a case involving relatives and for endorsing political candidates, according to the same Law & Crime report. He agreed to the public censure while continuing his judicial term through 2030.
Tebeau lives in Hermon, a rural community in south-central St. Lawrence County near Canton with a population of roughly 636 residents and a median household income of $41,023, according to Data USA. No additional court dates were disclosed in connection with the newly filed charges.
