Ulster County man convicted of rape and criminal sexual act

Mike Randall, Middletown Times Herald- Record
·2 min read
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KINGSTON - A jury convicted an Ulster County man of rape following a four-day trial before County Court Judge James Farrell.

According to the Ulster County District Attorney's office, Charles Burgher, 32, of Highland, was found guilty of five counts of second-degree rape and three counts of second-degree criminal sexual act, both felonies.

He is being held without bail in the Ulster County jail and will face a "significant period of incarceration in state prison" when he is sentenced on Dec. 8, the district attorney's office said.

According to the district attorney's office, Burgher and the child victim were neighbors in Highland for the better part of 2022, and the girl regularly watched his four children.

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The district attorney's office said Burgher's conviction stemmed from a course of conduct between August 2022 and Nov. 7, 2022, when the child victim's mother filed a missing persons report with the Town of Lloyd Police Department when she did not return home from school.

A subsequent investigation led police to a motel on Route 9W in Lake Katrine, where the child was recovered safely, and Burgher was arrested after a five-and-a-half-hour standoff with law enforcement.

The district attorney's office said Burgher finally surrendered to authorities when the Kingston-Ulster Emergency Services Unit was about to force entry into the hotel room.

The girl was brought to a hospital, where a nurse collected forensic evidence that ensured the prosecution and conviction of Burgher, the district attorney's office said.

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"The Town of Ulster Police Department captured the defendant in the nick of time, as he had planned on running off with the child the following morning to New York City," Senior Assistant District Attorney Nicholas LaStella said in a statement.

Burgher was represented by the Ulster County Public Defender's office. A representative of that office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record, Poughkeepsie Journal and The Journal News/lohud. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com or on Twitter @mikerandall845.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Rape conviction for Ulster County man