TROY – After receiving a 210-year prison sentence on 14 counts of statutory sodomy Christopher Whitbey’s attorneys filed an appeal … sort of.

After a jury found him guilty on 14 counts of first degree statutory sodomy, deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 14 years old, Judge David Ash sentenced Whitbey Jan. 24.

Four days later, his public defenders filed an appeal. However, paperwork filed with the court listed only a charge of murder in the first degree with a sentence of life in prison without parole.

After Ash sentenced Whitbey to 180 years on the first 13 counts, he added a life sentence for the 14th, without mentioning the “no parole” provision. Whitbey also never faced murder charges, much less convicted.

While no explanation was offered for the appeal, Whitbey had filed for a new trial Dec. 9 after his conviction.

In those court filings, Whitbey’s attorneys argued he deserved a new trial for three reasons, including an allegation a key witness “admitted to a third party that she had concocted the story to ‘get even’ with (Whitbey).”

Attorneys stated that evidence came to light after the trial the jury never heard.

Whitbey’s attorneys also labeled instructions the jury received too “broad” and portions of the prosecution’s closing arguments improper.

According to court records, no ruling was issued on the request for a second trial.

According to a probable cause statement, the victim’s mother first reported to the sheriff’s department in 2019 Whitbey sexually assaulted her son. Whitbey, her former boyfriend, lived with her and her son at the time of the assaults.

When interviewed, the victim confirmed the assaults had taken place in several locations in Troy, including in an automobile parked in a field near Cuivre Park Elementary and at Whitbey’s place of employment.