Man Who Raped Babysitter Receives Decades-Long Sentence

HIGHLAND, NY — An Ulster County man who was convicted of raping his children’s babysitter will be spending decades in prison.

The Ulster County District Attorney’s Office said that Charles Burgher, 32, of Highland, was sentenced Friday to 56 years in state prison followed by 15 years’ post-release supervision.

He was convicted of five counts of second-degree rape and three counts of second-degree criminal sexual act following a four-day jury trial in October.

Prosecutors said, between August 2022 and November 2022, when Burgher was arrested after a five-and-a-half-hour standoff with law enforcement at the 9W Motel in the town of Ulster.

He surrendered to authorities when the Kingston-Ulster Emergency Service Unit was about to force entry into the room.

Burgher and the victim, who was a child, were neighbors residing in Highland for most of 2022, and the victim regularly babysat his four children.

He was found with the victim inside the motel room where he planned on taking her to New York City the following day to begin a new life, leaving behind his girlfriend and children who lived in Highland.

Authorities said, on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, the victim’s mother filed a missing person’s report with the Town of Lloyd Police Department when she did not return home from school.

An investigation led law enforcement officials to the 9W Motel, where the child was recovered safely. She was taken to the hospital where a sexual assault nurse examiner collected forensic evidence.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Nicholas LaStella said the case would have had a very different outcome were it not for the excellent work of the Town of Ulster Police Department in conjunction with the Kingston-Ulster Emergency Services Unit that located the child in the nick of time.

“Charles Burgher is a predator of the worst kind,” he said, “and he deserves every single day of his lengthy and appropriate prison sentence.”