Sullivan man indicted on charges alleging he sexually assaulted child

Jul. 29—A grand jury indicted a Sullivan man earlier this month on sexual-assault charges alleging he molested a young girl multiple times between 2010 and 2017, including when she was under the age of 13.

Robert Barry, 58, waived his arraignment Monday in Hillsborough County Superior Court North in Manchester on five counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault. Barry has also been charged with one count of witness tampering alleging he interfered with an Antrim police investigation into the alleged sexual assaults in 2017.

Police arrested him in March. He has been released on personal recognizance and ordered to have no contact with the girl or any minor.

In August 2017, the state Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) notified Antrim police of a possible sexual- abuse incident, Antrim police Sgt. John Blake wrote in an affidavit filed with the court.

Based on that report, Antrim police initiated an investigation and conducted interviews with Barry, the girl and others, Blake wrote in the affidavit. No disclosures were made during those interviews, and police suspended the case in 2018, pending new information, the affidavit states.

The girl later told police that when officers interviewed her in 2017 as part of that initial investigation, Barry told her not to say anything, Blake wrote in the affidavit.

Then last October, DCYF again notified Antrim police of possible sexual abuse involving Barry, according to the affidavit. During an interview with the girl, she told police that Barry began molesting her when she was around three or four years old, the affidavit states.

During the first assault, Barry — who knew the girl — offered her candy to get her alone, she said, before molesting her, Blake wrote in the affidavit.

"He said that he would give me the candy if I did what he told me to," she said, according to the affidavit.

Similar assaults occurred multiple times when she was about five years old, she told police, and then started again when she was about nine or 10, Blake wrote. The girl told police that Barry would groom her during that latter period, the affidavit states.

"If I wanted something, he would get it, but first I had to do stuff with him for it," she said, according to the affidavit.

Ryan Spencer can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1412, or rspencer@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @rspencerKS

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