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 1stcommitted 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.