KINGSTON – A Saugerties man was sentenced in Ulster County Court on Monday to 20 years to life in state prison for the crime of predatory sexual abuse against a three-year-old child.
Benjamin Santiago, 28, was sentenced by Judge Bryan Rounds for committing the crimes against the child which he photographed.
The conviction stems from an investigation by the Ulster County Family and Child Advocacy Center.
“The defendant has murdered his victim’s childhood,” Judge Rounds said during the sentencing. “He can’t control himself and has no insight as to why. That, coupled with his intelligence, makes him a special kind of dangerous.”
“This case has shaken all those who were involved in it; from the investigators, the caseworkers, and the victim’s advocates to the grand jurors who heard the evidence in the case,” said Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Culmone-Mills.
