CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant
David Owens
HARTFORD — A prosecutor on Wednesday dropped the most serious charges against a Catholic priest who had been accused of sexually assaulting a teenager, resulting in a six-month suspended sentence on a lesser charge.
A series of pretrial rulings on excluding evidence by Hartford Superior Court Judge Juliett L. Crawford eviscerated the state’s case against the Rev. Paul Gotta, prompting prosecutor Debra Collins to offer Gotta the opportunity to resolve the case by pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree breach of peace.
Judge Carl E. Taylor accepted the plea and sentenced Gotta to a six-month suspended sentence and two years of conditional discharge.
Gotta entered the guilty plea under the Alford doctrine, meaning he did not agree with the state’s evidence, but wanted to plead guilty to the reduced charge rather than risk a trial and a greater sentence.
Gotta still faces a trial on federal firearm charges in February.
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