JOHNSTOWN — A Gloversville father accused of assaulting his week-old son late last summer pleaded guilty to one charge for first-degree assault, a class B violent felony, in Fulton County Court Friday as part of a plea arrangement.
Andrew S. Allen, 31, of 6 Cherry St., was charged in an indictment handed up to Fulton County Court Judge Polly A. Hoye on March 8 with the following felony counts: first-degree assault and three counts of second-degree assault, all violent felonies; and first-degree reckless endangerment. Allen was also charged with endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree assault, both misdemeanors.
Following the indictment, Allen was sent to the Fulton County Jail without bail.
In court on Friday, Hoye said that Allen was originally scheduled to appear for a conference, but while meeting with the attorneys on the case in chambers she was informed that Fulton County District Attorney Chad Brown had offered Allen’s attorney, Kyle Davis, a plea arrangement that he intended to accept.
Under the arrangement, Hoye told Allen that by pleading guilty to the first count of the indictment, felony first-degree assault, in full satisfaction of all charges, he may be sentenced to eight years in prison and five years of post release supervision. Additionally, Hoye stated that a stay away order of protection would be granted for Allen’s victim.
In March, Brown said Allen faced eight to 25 years in state prison if convicted on the most serious violent felonies he was originally charged with and five years post-release supervision.
Davis affirmed his client’s intention to accept the arrangement before Hoye informed Allen that by entering a guilty plea he would be admitting that he committed the crimes he was accused of and he would waive his right to appeal his case once he is sentenced.
Allen signed a written waiver of appeal, was sworn in and entered a guilty plea. Allen is scheduled to appear in Fulton County Court for sentencing on June 4 at 1:30 p.m.
The Gloversville Police Department arrested Allen on Sept. 11 for assaulting two people on Sept. 9 at his Cherry Street apartment; his seven-day-old son and the child’s mother.
The Leader-Herald is not releasing the name of Allen’s son — now just over seven months old — and the infant’s mother for the privacy of the family.
According to the initial complaint in September, Allen struck the boy at around 6:15 a.m. with “his knuckles using a ‘half-closed fist.” The blow caused a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain, which according to the documents, put the baby at “a grave risk of death.” The child had to be airlifted to Albany Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.
That complaint stated: “[Allen] did commit the offense of assault in the first degree when, under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, he recklessly [engaged] in conduct which [created] a grave risk of death to another person, and thereby [caused] serious physical injury to another person.”
In March, Brown said the surviving boy is in the custody of the Fulton County Department of Social Services and it is too early to tell if the boy has suffered any brain damage from his injuries.
Allen also allegedly assaulted the child’s mother. Police said Allen struck the woman with his foot and fist in the head and upper torso multiple times. That attack caused “bruising, swelling and discomfort” to the areas he struck, police said.
“Under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person, and thereby causes serious physical injury to another person,” the indictment said of the attack on the boy.
Only one of the original seven counts – the misdemeanor third-degree assault – related to the attack on the baby’s mother, stating Allen “did repeatedly punch and kick” her, resulting in contusions.
