3 are sentenced in County Court, including Albion man for sexual misconduct
ALBION – An Albion man was sentenced to a year of weekends in the Orleans County Jail for sexual misconduct.
Robert Tetrault, 37, pleaded guilty on Oct. 15 to two counts of sexual misconduct and faced up to a year for each Class A misdemeanor, with a maximum of two years in jail.
Tetrault entered an Alford plea, which is a guilty plea without admitting to the criminal act. He allegedly had sexual intercourse and committed another sex act against a child, both girls under age 18. Tetrault proclaimed his innocence in Orleans County Court.
He already spent seven months in the county jail since his arrest. County Court Judge Sanford Church credited the time served for the first count against Tetrault, and the judge said Tetrault would serve a year of weekends in jail for the second count.
Tetrault’s attorney, Joanne Best, asked for that sentence. She said Tetrault has a job as a crew leader for a business that does siding and roofing. She read a letter from the owner of the business saying Tetrault is a valued employee.
Tetrault acknowledged he has an extensive criminal history. He said he is determined to be a productive citizen.
“I’ve been doing good and I will keep up doing good,” he told the judge. “I’ve made changes.”
If Tetrault served weekends in jail, he could keep his job and help support his family, Best said.
Judge Church agreed to the sentence. Tetrault will have to pay a $1,000 supplemental sex offender victim fee, $175 court surcharge, $50 DNA databank fee, and $25 crime victims fee.
The judge also issued orders of protection for the two victims, with those orders lasting five years from today.
In other sentencings this morning:
• A Wyoming County man was sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation for grand larceny in the fourth degree.
Dean Smith Jr. accepted more than $13,000 for two construction jobs for Orleans County homeowners and didn’t do the work. He said he used the money to buy materials and pay employees.
He faced similar charges in Wyoming County and was sentenced there last Thursday to the same sentence. The sentences in Wyoming and Orleans will be served the same time, although he might have to spend a few additional days in the Orleans County Jail because the Wyoming sentence started last week.
Judge Church also ordered Smith to pay $8,450 in restitution to one victim and $4,800 to the other one in Orleans County, plus a 5 percent surcharge for both.
“I do apologize to the victims for what happened,” Smith said at sentencing. I didn’t mean for it to happen I was robbing Peter to pay Paul. The only person to blame is me.”
• Sarah MacDonald, an inmate at the Albion Correctional Facility, was sentenced to another 1 ½ to 3 years in prison for attempted promoting prison contraband in the first degree. She said she asked to have to suboxone sent to her to help her fight withdrawals from her drug addiction. The suboxone was intercepted by corrections staff. She didn’t receive it.
