FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT
DATE: OCTOBER 16, 2018
RE: PRESS RELEASE –
CHRISTOPHER GERTZ JR.
ULSTER
COUNTY TRIAL JURY CONVICTS PLATTEKILL MAN FOR SEXUAL ABUSE OF GIRL
An Ulster County jury
of 7 women and 5 men returned a verdict on October 15, 2018 convicting 41 year
old Christopher Gertz, Jr., of Plattekill, of Sexual Abuse in the 1st
committed against his 12 year old step-daughter in September of 2017. Gertz
lived in the same home with the victim’s mother at that time.
The abuse occurred at night on September 14, 2017. The victim complained
to her mother very early the following morning that her “dad” (step-dad) had
inappropriately touched her private areas and that he may have taken pictures
with his smart phone in the process. The mother called the defendant to return
home from his way to work and she confronted him with the allegation, which he
denied.
When the mother left with the child to report the incident to
the police the defendant left his job without notice and fled from Ulster County
to Indiana. Investigators from Ulster County District Attorney’s Child Advocacy
Center enlisted the help of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department in Indiana
to find and arrest Gertz. He was then extradited on November 14 of last year to
Ulster County to answer for this offense. During his apprehension investigators
in Indiana found his smart phone in the water-tank of a toilet at the home
where he was hiding out.
The defendant did not testify or call any witnesses at trial. In
his closing arguments Gertz’s attorney, Bryan Rounds of Kingston, suggested to
the jury that the allegations against his client were a complete fabrication.
Sr. Assistant District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji, in his closing remarks,
countered that the victim had no reason to subject herself to the arduous legal process she had just been through. He
highlighted the facts that when defendant was confronted he fled, that he tried
to hide his cell phone when he was arrested, and that Y DNA matching the
defendants was found on the button and zipper of the clothing the victim had
been wearing, as well as on her undergarments.
This conviction is the third felony conviction for Christopher
Gertz, Jr. He has served state prison sentences on each of his two prior felony
burglary convictions. He also has five criminal misdemeanor convictions. Information
regarding the defendant’s criminal history was not allowed before the jury due
to the evidentiary rules of New York State’s Criminal Procedure Law.
Ulster County District Attorney stated “unfortunately there is
no easy way to bring people like Gertz to justice. I have the deepest respect
for this victim and her mother who stood up to this defendant even though they
knew they would be subjected to difficult and very unpleasant scrutiny in the
process.”
Sentencing is set for December 19, 2018, in Ulster County Court.
