A 60-year-old man convicted of sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl faces a maximum of seven years in prison after being convicted in Cayuga County Court Friday of only one of the 24 felony counts against him.

Douglas Clarkson, 60, formerly of Bridgeport, had been charged with 23 counts of first-degree sex abuse, accused of having sexual contact with the girl on a weekly basis from October 2006 to March 2007.

Jurors Friday night convicted Clarkson of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and two misdemeanors of endangering the welfare of a child.

Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann said Friday night that jurors did not believe they had enough evidence to convict Clarkson of the 23 individual counts of sexual abuse because, although the girl had testified during the trial that Clarkson had repeatedly abused her on a weekly basis, she could not provide specific dates or times of the day when the abuse took place.

Following the girl's testimony on Thursday, Clarkson's defense attorney, Jethro Loftus, unsuccessfully moved to have the charges dismissed on the grounds that the district attorney's office had failed to show enough evidence.

There was one count of sex abuse for each week Clarkson resided with the victim's family.

As jurors deliberated Friday afternoon, it became clear that they wouldn't convict on the 23 abuse charges because the dates and times were not specific enough, Budelmann said.

Budelmann said he was disappointed that the jury failed to convict on all the charges, but said he was pleased that they believed the girl's testimony and that Clarkson would likely receive a determinate seven-year prison sentence followed by five-years of post-release supervision.

“I never doubted that she had been molested by this defendant,” Budelmann said.

Cayuga County Judge Mark Fandrich remanded Clarkson to the county jail and scheduled sentencing for Nov. 18.