Newport
Barrett Hodgdon expressed remorse for his actions on Friday in Sullivan Superior Court.
“I am sorry for what happened,” Hodgdon said before breaking down.
Sullivan County Attorney Marc Hathaway said Hodgdon assaulted the victim on more than one occasion between Aug. 8, 2014, and Oct. 8, 2016. She was known to him.
The case came to light in October, when police arrested Hodgdon as he left Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon. Hodgdon said in court on Friday he had checked himself in because he was having thoughts about “hurting myself.”
Going to trial wasn’t something the victim’s family wished for, Hathaway said, noting that the family was satisfied with the outcome of Hodgdon’s case.
The girl’s mother gave an emotional victim’s impact statement in court on Friday.
Although the girl was a teenager at the time of the assaults, she was developmentally 7 years old, her mother said.
“The ripple effect of what has occurred has been so traumatic,” she said. “I really want (Hodgdon) to be aware of that. I want him to have to think and see what he has done.”
She added: “This isn’t something that happened by chance or a momentary lapse in judgment, but a well-placed … course of events that he used against this child.”
In a departure from his normal course with impact statements, Judge Brian Tucker asked the victim’s mother a question.
“How is she (the victim) doing now?” he asked.
“She is scared. She doesn’t understand,” the mother replied.
As a general practice, the Valley News doesn’t identify the victims of sex crimes.
Hodgdon originally faced a slew of charges, but ultimately pleaded guilty to one felony aggravated sexual assault charge and a misdemeanor count of sexual assault as part of a plea agreement.
Tucker formally sentenced Hodgdon to five to 15 years in state prison on the felony charge. He received a one-year sentence on the misdemeanor, which he will serve concurrently with his prison sentence.
Hodgdon has pretrial credit of 122 days. Once released, he must not have unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16, unless he receives prior approval. He also must register as a sex offender.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.