Appeal from a judgment of the Oswego County Court (James W. McCarthy, J.), rendered December 19, 2007. The judgment convicted defendant, upon a jury verdict, of course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree, sodomy in the first degree (two counts), rape in the first degree (three counts), sexual abuse in the first degree (five counts) and endangering the welfare of a child.
It is hereby ordered that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously modified on the law by reversing that part convicting defendant of sexual abuse in the first degree under the fifth count of the indictment and dismissing that count of the indictment and as modified the judgment is affirmed.
Memorandum: On appeal from a judgment convicting him, following a jury trial, of various sex crimes committed by defendant against three children, defendant contends that the conviction is not supported by legally sufficient evidence. Defendant preserved his contention for our review with respect to seven counts of the indictment, but we conclude that his contention lacks merit with respect to those counts (see generally People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490, 495 [1987]). We agree with defendant, however, that the judgment must be modified by reversing that part convicting defendant of sexual abuse in the first degree under the fifth count of the indictment, charging defendant with sexual abuse by touching the vagina of one of the victims
County Court did not err in admitting the testimony of the expert concerning Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome. The testimony of the expert was admissible for the purpose of “explaining] behavior of a victim that might appear unusual or that jurors may not be expected to understand” (People v Carroll, 95 NY2d 375, 387 [2000], citing People v Taylor, 75 NY2d 277 [1990]). The court also did not err in precluding defendant from presenting evidence that two of the victims had made prior claims of sexual assault. Although the testimony of the two victims included a phrase that generally referred to a molester, that testimony does not rise to the level of a formal complaint, and there was no evidence of a formal complaint of sexual assault made by those victims (see People v Mandel, 48 NY2d 952 [1979], cert denied and appeal dismissed 446 US 949 [1980], reh denied 448 US 908 [1980]; People v Breheny, 270 AD2d 926 [2000], lv denied 95 NY2d 851 [2000]). Finally, the sentence is not unduly harsh or severe. Present— Hurlbutt, J.P., Martoche, Smith, Carni and Pine, JJ.