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ELIZABETHTOWN---A former Ticonderoga emergency dispatcher has been found guilty of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl at a party held at the apartment of a fellow dispatcher and his girlfriend.
After deliberating five hours Wednesday, an Essex County jury found Michael Alteri, 33, of Ticonderoga guilty of third degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
Prosecutors had accused Alteri of touching the breast of the 16-year-old girl while his 19-year-old girlfriend was performing oral sex on him.
The other former EMS dispatcher, Kenneth Otley, 35, has already pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child as the result of the alleged incidents which prosecutors said occurred between November 2005 and this past January.
Otley's girlfriend, Monica Stacey, 26, also of Ticonderoga, has pleaded guilty to two counts of felony third degree criminal sexual act and two counts of misdemeanor third degree sexual abuse for having oral sex with the same 16-year-old girl during a sex and drinking party of Otley's and Stacy's apartment.
Reginald Bedell, Alteri's attorney said Alteri had an alibi for the time that the incident he was charged with had allegedly occurred, saying that he was attending a Christmas Party of the Crown Point Volunteer Fire Department.
However, the indictment had not cited a specific date, according to assistant district attorney Rob Winn, saying that the incident had occurred sometime during the first weekend in December 2005.
Setting the stage for what will likely be an appeal, Bedell said that the actual date the incident allegedly occurred was "a critical element of the crime" and that evidence was lacking that Alteri had committed any of the acts for which he was charged.
Alteri's girlfriend, Elana Olcott, also of Ticonderoga, had testified against him. She was not charged in the incident.
Alteri will be sentenced on Jan. 9 as will Stacy. He remains free without bail. Otley is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 28.
Alteri has also been charged with eavesdropping on his former wife, who is a deputy with the Essex County Sheriff's Department. 11-16-06
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© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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