2007-06-13 03:59:57 -

NEW YORK (AP) - A teacher's aide who confessed to sexually abusing a 4-year-old boy was convicted of rape Tuesday, despite her claim that she was tricked into giving a false confession.
Khemwatie Bedessie said during her trial that the elaborate videotaped statement she gave to police in 2006 was the product of stress and

coercion.
In the statement, she had described molesting the boy at a day care center in the South Ozone Park section of Queens and then having intercourse with him.
Bedessie, who is from Guyana, testified that she made up the story because a detective told her she would be set free if she confessed but would go to jail if she continued to insist she was innocent.
A Queens jury convicted Bedessie, 38, of sexually abusing the boy on three occasions. She faces up to 25 years in prison when she is sentenced next month on counts of rape, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

Investigators questioned Bedessie about the case after the boy told his mother about the sexual contact.
Bedessie's attorney, Stephen Turano, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment on the verdict.