Crime & Safety

Police: Grandpa, Mom Accused of Forcing Girl to Lie about Fondling Case

The following arrest information was supplied by the Utica Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction.

A 70-year-old man accused of fondling his 11-year-old granddaughter in a Utica hotel over the summer is back in jail after authorities said he and the girl’s mother persuaded the victim to write a letter to prosecutors stating she fabricated sexual misconduct allegations against her grandpa.

In August, the 70-year-old man was arraigned in 41-A District Court on charges of criminal sexual conduct second-degree after the man’s 37-year-old daughter told police her father—who was visiting from Florida—inappropriately touched her 11-year-old daughter inside a Utica hotel. The grandfather was ordered not to have contact with the victim and not to leave the state until after the trial was over.

Chief Dave Faber told Patch that prosecutors reduced the charges against the Florida man in September to attempted misdemeanor after the victim turned in a hand-written letter stating the alleged abuse never happened.

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However, the victim told her biological father that she was persuaded by her grandpa and mother inside of a Roseville hotel room to write a letter transcribing a prepared note, denying the allegations against her grandfather.

The girl told police her mother encouraged her to write the letter because her grandfather pays the families’ bill and would stop if he was sent to jail.

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Utica police obtained video of the girl, her brother, their mother and the grandfather at Sam’s Club on the day the girl claims she was forced to write the letter. The grandfather violated the terms of his parole by spending the day with the victim, said Faber.

The girl and her brother were removed from their mother’s home and placed into their biological father’s custody, and a warrant for arrest was issued for the victim’s mother and grandfather.

The Utica police arrested the grandfather at 41-A District Court earlier this week as he was preparing to ask a judge to drop the terms of his probation and allow him to return to Florida.

The grandfather was arraigned on charges of obstruction of justice and witness intimidation in Roseville’s 39 A District Court because that’s where the alleged second crime of tampering with the victim in a criminal case occurred.

The girl’s mother was arrested and arraigned in 39 A District Court on charges of obstruction of justice, witness intimidation and child abuse fourth-degree.

The grandfather remains jailed on a $50,000 cash surety or 10 percent bond. The girl’s mother was released after a surety company posted her $3,750 bond.

They are both due back in 39A District Court on Nov. 18 at 8:15 a.m. for a preliminary examination.

For questions about this blotter, email Marina.Cracchiolo@Patch.com.


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