Port Crane Man Pleads Not Guilty to Raping 14 Year Old

A Port Crane man, accused of raping a 14 year old girl then eluding law enforcement officials for close to two weeks, will stand trial on over a dozen charges including felony rape and burglary instead of opting to avoid trial by pleading guilty.

38 year old Michael Degnan has pleaded not guilty in Broome County Court in the June 9^th incidents.

Police accuse Degnan of raping the girl, fleeing, breaking into a Town of Fenton home and stealing clothing, before stealing a truck from a nearby residence.

He could face up to life in prison if convicted as a persistent felony offender.

Dengan had previously admitted robbing a convenience store in Binghamton with a gun in 1998, shooting a man who stepped in to help the clerk and stealing the clerk’s car.

That robbery happened two weeks after Dengen got out of state prison for burglarizing a home in Binghamton and the gun-point robbery of an acquaintance.

Dengan had served 13 years in prison for the convenience store robbery and attempted murder before being released in November of 2011, one year and seven months before the alleged rape of the teen.