WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A 60-year-old former Windsor man pleaded guilty to sexually molesting a minor, drawing to a close a criminal case that dragged on for so long that the defendant already served a substantial portion of his prison sentence in pre-trial detention.

John Sughrue pleaded guilty to three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child and was sentenced to a total of seven to 12 years in state prison in Windsor County Superior Court last week. The case dates back to 2014, when he was charged with molesting three children, all under the age of 10 at the time, while they were in his care.

Sughrue, listed in court documents as now residing in Brattleboro, Vt., had been acquitted by a Windsor County jury in 2017 on a charge that he molested one of the children. Then three days into a second trial earlier this year the judge declared a mistrial on Sughrue’s other charges after a key defense witness suffered a heart attack on the eve of his court testimony.

A plea agreement was later struck in the wake of the mistrial, which called for Sughrue, who had been released from prison on conditions in January after being incarcerated for more than six years and five months without bail, to receive credit for time served on his sentence.

The sentence includes five years of probation so that if Sughrue violated conditions or reoffends, he could go back to prison to fulfill the maximum 12-year term.

Judge John Treadwell further ordered that Sughrue participate in sex offender treatment.

Attorneys cited several reasons — some of them unrelated to Sughrue’s charges — for why the case dragged on for so long, including preparation time for the second trial; the COVID-19 pandemic during which jury trials were suspended and a backlog of cases set back the court calendar; a police detective and prosecution witness who was fired for lying in another matter; and the defense witness’s untimely hospitalization.

“This is a very unusual case in terms of its history,” Travis Weaver, Rutland County deputy state’s attorney, said when asking the court to accept the plea agreement.

Sughrue maintained throughout his defense that he had been applying a prescription medical cream to the minor’s privates and the claim — which as a noncustodial adult was enough to warrant a lewd and lascivious count — was stipulated as fact in the plea agreement.

In addition, as part of the plea agreement, charges related to one of the two remaining victims were dismissed.

Weaver explained to the court at Sughrue’s sentencing on Friday that although the testimony of the victim at trial was “incredibly brave” the state nonetheless wanted to spare her the trauma of “coming back and doing that all over again.”

As a general practice, the Valley News does not identify victims of sex crimes.

The victim’s mother, who had been in a relationship with Sughrue and, after they broke up, in whose household basement Sughrue had continued to reside until he was charged, expressed dissatisfaction with the plea in her victim statement to the court.

“I can’t change minds or get the outcome I think we deserve,” the mother said. “The defendant is not getting what he deserves.”

She praised her children and their courage for standing up “for themselves in the face of the defendant’s denials” and said “they stood up and spoke their truth. They did it ... not for the satisfaction of this court (but) for other children they want to protect and prevent from being harmed.”

The victim, now 17 years old, said that Sughrue’s actions robbed her of normal elementary school education and teenage experiences, leaving her with deep and abiding psychological and emotional scars.

“As a 17-year-old in high school, you’ll find me in the 10th-grade section of the yearbook because of the defendant’s choices,” she said as Sughrue avoided turning his head to look her way and fixed his eyes straight ahead.

“I began to believe the future was a privilege I was not privy to. I lived in the deep well of misery for nearly a decade. I genuinely believe that when I turned 18, I would just end my life. My goal was to just survive until then,” she said.

Only lately, she said, has she begun to pass her classes and see a ray of hope.

“I’m able to envision a future where I’m in it. I finally have wants, I want to travel. I want to have a job that I love and I want to live,” she said.

Sughrue expressed remorse when it was his turn to speak.

“I’m very sorry for my lack of judgment and my actions. I especially deeply regret the harm I have caused (the victim) and her family,” he said. He added, “I will admit my conduct” and said he is ready to engage in sex offender treatment “so that I can understand why I allowed myself to do what I did.”

Sughrue said that his nearly 6½ years in prison had “a tremendous impact on me in so many ways and I fully intend to abide by my probationary conditions. I’ll forever regret and be remorseful for my actions.”

Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.