This story by Jordan Cuddemi was published by the Valley News on April 23.
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A 46-year-old Barnard man who has served four years in jail while awaiting trial in a sexual assault case pleaded guilty on Tuesday to felony lewd and lascivious conduct with a child.
Gregory Clasby changed his plea in Windsor Superior Court in White River Junction and returned to Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield until his sentencing later this year.
Clasby, a professional blacksmith who moved to the Upper Valley from New York in 2009, had been fighting his case but decided to take a plea deal, he told Judge Timothy Tomasi on Tuesday.
“I apologize for everything taking as long as it has and for my part in that,” Clasby said. “I know I haven’t made this easy.”
Deputy Windsor County State’s Attorney Heidi Remick and Clasby’s attorney, Chris Montgomery, outlined the parameters of Clasby’s sentence at the hearing.
His sentence will entail him serving a length of time that the Department of Corrections deems necessary for him to complete a recommended sex offender treatment program. That time could be served in prison or while on release, Montgomery said, which likely will be the topic of a contested sentencing hearing.
Upon release, Clasby would be placed on probation. He would be required to register as a sex offender, Remick said.
Probation and Parole currently is completing a presentencing investigation report.
The offense carries a minimum sentence of two years in prison and a maximum of 15 years. He has been incarcerated since his February 2015 arrest.
“The goal here is that he not serve any more time than whatever the Department of Corrections recommends,” Montgomery said.
Clasby pleaded not guilty in March 2015 to felony lewd and lascivious conduct with a child and aggravated sexual assault with a victim under the age of 13. He faced a total of four felonies; all but the charge he pleaded to are slated to be dismissed.
By changing his plea on Tuesday, he admitted to inappropriately touching a child in 2014.
The case came to a head in February 2015 when the mother of the victim was alerted to an “unusual” relationship between Clasby and the girl, according to an affidavit in the case. The victim later told her mother that Clasby touched her inappropriately.
The girl was known to Clasby. As a general practice, the Valley News doesn’t identify the victims of sex crimes.
Clasby, who was well-known in Barnard for his work on motorcycles that has been featured on the TV show “American Chopper,” has a status conference scheduled for July 2.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Well-known Barnard blacksmith pleads guilty to sex assault charge.