NORWICH – After failing to retract a confession he says was obtained through police coercion, a Guilford man ended up pleading guilty to sexually molesting an 11-year-old boy last week.
A tearful 61-year-old Leroy F. Bigelow of Guilford pleaded guilty to first degree criminal sexual act (a Class B felony) and was sentenced seven and a half years in state prison last Wednesday.
Only a few days earlier, Bigelow’s Public Defender Alan Gordon attempted to have Bigelow’s confession tossed out, claiming police had promised his client they would be easier on him if he cooperated.
District Attorney Joseph A. McBride called New York State Investigator Laura Gregory to the stand and she recounted statements Bigelow gave her on Nov. 28, 2008, just days after the crime allegedly occurred.
In those statements, Gregory reported Bigelow said he walked in on the 11-year-old and another boy, 6, as they were watching pornography on television.
According to the statement, Bigelow said the 11-year-old asked him to participate and instigated the sexual contact.
“But I told him we shouldn’t be doing this, it’s going to get us in trouble,” the investigator read to the court from Bigelow’s confession. “He got mad when I said I didn’t want to do it any more,” she continued.
Gregory also read parts of Bigelow’s recorded statements that said he was depressed and vulnerable at the time and if the boy hadn’t initiated the contact, it would have never happened.
McBride supplied the original statement to the court, which was printed on several sheets of paper with Bigelow’s initials on each page’s lower corner. His signature at the end of the confession was written just below an instruction advising him of his rights.
The investigator also recited from memory the Miranda warning she claimed she gave Bigelow before interviewing him.
Supreme Court Justice Kevin M. Dowd ruled to accept the confession and that it could be used against Bigelow at his scheduled jury trial.
A far different scene took place in court two days later, when an emotional Bigelow stood before Dowd and admitted his crime.
“I touched him. I did that to him,” Bigelow told the judge after being asked how he pleaded to the top charge against him.
“Mr. Bigelow’s conduct is disgusting and he’s ruined these children’s and his own life. He needs to be removed,” said McBride.
“I’m so, so, so, sorry, I’m sorry for what I did to them,” replied Bigelow through tears, adding that he felt terrible about the damage done to the victim. He also apologized to their mother, who was not in the courtroom.
“As long as people like you refuse to keep your stinking hands off children, this will continue to be the consequence,” said Dowd. The judge sentenced Bigelow to state prison for the next seven and a half years, with five years post release supervision. He will become a registered sex offender, possibly for the rest of his life.