OBSERVER Photo by Damian Sebouhian FBI Special Agent Chad Artrip; First Assistant DA Andrew Molitor; District Attorney Patrick Swanson Fredonia Chief of Police Bradley Meyers; and Fredonia Sergeant David Price held a press conference Wednesday morning at village hall in Fredonia to discuss Tuesday’s conviction of Dunkirk man Samuel Saeli on two charges: second-degree kidnapping and second-degree kidnapping based on a sexual motivation.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Patrick Swanson announced Wednesday during a press conference that there may be more victims of Samuel Saeli.

“Given the information that we came across and that we’ve run down (during the investigation), we suspect that there are more out there,” Swanson said.

Saeli was convicted Tuesday during the fourth day of his retrial, of second-degree kidnapping and second-degree kidnapping for sexually motivated purposes. His victim was a 13-year-old boy with autism he abducted from the Fredonia Walmart parking lot in August of 2016.

The boy was located approximately 40 minutes later near Cushing Street in Fredonia.

Last year’s trial of Saeli ended in a hung jury in September.

The legal and investigative team present with Swanson at the press conference were Fredonia Police Chief Bradley Meyers, FBI Special Agent Chad Artrip, First Assistant DA Andrew Molitor and Fredonia Sergeant David Price.

Swanson said that although it was a disappointment that the first trial ended the way it did, the team continued its investigation and more evidence was discovered on Saeli during that time.

“This investigation did not stop when we indicted it,” Swanson said. “We continued to peel back the layers of the onion and our expectation is there is potential for federal charges forthcoming on unrelated matters.

“We feel very good that this very dangerous person is in jail. We hope that when sentencing comes the family (of the victim) is happy with the sentence that is handed down by Judge Paul Wojtaszek.”

Molitor, who delivered the case in court, said that Saeli had access to potential victims.

“One of the things we learned from the investigation after the mistrial was that the defendant was formally a special ed teacher,” Molitor said.

“Something like that we’re paying very close attention to when we’re working out motive and opportunity,” Swanson added. “All those things play into the quality of our proof and learning and being able to bring evidence to that fact was critical in the case.

“If there are any other victims out there of Samuel Saeli, please contact the FBI or the Fredonia police so we can continue to follow leads.”

Swanson explained the importance of the FBI involvement in the case, especially the work of local FBI Special Agent Chad Artrip.

“From time to time information comes to us that maybe they’re more suited to use their resources,” he said. “That was the case with some of the information we collected that maybe they had some interest in. It turns out they did. They followed a number of leads down and they have a separate case running. I thank them for their help.”

Swanson was asked how this conviction felt “after a string of mistrials, hung juries and disappointing verdicts” the DA experienced in previous court cases.

“Whenever we find justice, we’re happy,” Swanson replied. “With this particular case, we felt very strongly about the evidence we had. Obviously we were disappointed in the hung jury on this one, but (first assistant DA) Andrew (Molitor) and the group of lawyers that assisted him did a phenomenal job on this and I’m very pleased with the outcome.”

Swanson asked that any potential victims of Saeli contact the Fredonia police at 679-1531; or the FBI at 856-7800.