BRATTLEBORO — A 72-year-old registered sex offender from Brookline pleaded guilty last Thursday to charges he tried to lure a child to perform a sex act on him in Dummerston two summers ago.
At the time of the 2021 incident, Albert Kurtigian Sr. lived in Wilmington, but was staying with his son, Albert Kurtigian Jr., at the time. at a family’s home in Dummerston in a camper.
The incident happened at a swimming hole along Stickney Brook Road in Dummerston, and Kurtigian, his son and a handful of other people were present, gathered around a fire and drinking alcohol.
The son told police initially that the incident took place at a Brattleboro motel, but later said it took place at a spot police finally located on Stickney Brook Road in Dummerston.
According to court documents, Kurtigian Sr. handed his cell phone to a child with the message offering the child $50 for a sex act, but the child refused, so he made another offer for $100. The child refused again.
Kurtigian told the boy that he would “kill himself before going back to jail” and he told the boy “don’t tell anybody.”
Kurtigian was convicted in 2014 and 2003 of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, and when he was released from prison in 2018, he was called a “high-risk offender” and was likely to re-offend.
The child a day later talked to a neighbor and told her what had happened, and the woman called Brattleboro police, who investigated. The affidavit said the child told a woman who was taking care of them, and she did nothing.
The child told police the main reason he reported the story was that he didn’t want Kurtigian to do the same thing to another child.
Kurtigian’s son told police he kept his father away from children because of his history, and he initially denied that his father was in the presence of the boy.
Kurtigian told police he did not have a cell phone when they asked to see it, but when the police asked the son if his father had a cell phone, the son turned it over to them.
Under the terms of a plea agreement, Kurtigian will receive a four- to five-year sentence, all of it suspended but three months to serve. He was released pending sentencing on the condition that he not have any contact with the victim, and not use alcohol or drugs.
Windham Superior Court Judge Katherine Hayes ordered a pre-sentence investigation, and set sentencing for November.
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