A New Scotland man who is accused of raping a 10-year-old girl on Monday is a registered sex offender and acquaintance of the girl’s family, according to the Albany County Sheriff’s Office.
Adam M. Croote, 23, of 383 Rock Hill Road, stands accused of rape and attempted murder after he allegedly brutally assaulted the girl after seeing her off the school bus on Monday afternoon. Police said he agreed to babysit the child on Sunday at an event the family was also at.
After getting her off the bus, police say Croote and the child went into her Berne home and set up a video game. She went to the kitchen for a snack and when she returned, Croote was naked and immediately assaulted her, police said.
During the course of assault, he began strangling her because the girl was screaming. He tried to snap her neck twice violently, said Albany County Undersheriff Craig Apple.
Croote eventually fled the scene. Apple said the girl fought her attacker throughout the ordeal.
`This is one of the most heinous crimes that I’ve seen in quite some time,` he said. `She’s a remarkable child I think she will recover completely because she has a very strong will.`
Croote is a level 2 sex offender (out of three levels) stemming from a Massachussetts conviction for forcible sexual contact. That case did not involved a minor, according to police
`The family understood that he was on the registry, but Croote had basically baffled them…he said it was a prank that got out of hand,` Apple said.
Croote was due back in court today, but the case will probably go to a grand jury. He was charged with attempted murder in the second degree, rape in the first degree, criminal sexual act in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, strangulation in the second degree, aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree (all felonies), forcible touching and criminal obstruction of breathing.
Apple said if convicted of all the charges, Croote could face over 25 years in prison.“