Gloversville man cleared of Halfmoon rape allegations, attorney says

BALLSTON SPA – A Gloversville man has been cleared of all charges related to rape allegations from last year in Halfmoon, his attorney said this week.

Prosecutors dropped the charges against Francesco Bianco, 26, after the defense provided phone and other records showing the timeline provided by his accuser could not have happened, attorney Peter J. Moschetti, Jr., said.

Bianco had been indicted on charges that included first-degree rape, a felony that would have meant up to 25 years in prison upon conviction. He also faced related misdemeanor counts.

Saratoga County prosecutors, however, moved to have the case dismissed in the interests of justice last week, referencing the new evidence provided by the defense and indicating that the accuser, when confronted with the information, admitted she’d lied when she claimed that she did not have consensual sex with Bianco that day, Moschetti said.

Judge Chad Brown then dismissed the case, Moschetti said.

Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen declined to comment on the case this week. Generally, dismissed cases are sealed, she noted. The clerk’s office also reported no information on the case this week, consistent with it being sealed.

The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office arrested Bianco last June on the first-degree rape charge, accusing him of raping a woman at her Halfmoon home after they’d met on a dating app, officials said then.

But Moschetti said Wednesday that phone photographic records went against the timeline she’d provided. “It just didn’t match at all,” Moschetti said.

Bianco is thankful for the resolution and dismissal, Mochetti said.

“He’s a little bit angry it happened, but I think he’s just more relieved, which is something you’d expect from somebody who’s never been in trouble in his life.”