BURLINGTON (AP) -- A Vermont man who served 26 years in prison for a 1972 murder has returned to prison after being convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child.
A judge last week sentenced 76-year-old Frank Berard to five to eight years in prison.
Berard was convicted in April of kissing a 9-year-old girl at his home in 2008.
The Burlington Free Press (http://bfpne.ws/JN1XEu) reports that Berard, who denied the charges, said he kissed the girl on the cheek.
He was paroled in 1999 for his conviction in the shooting death of 43-year-old Raymond Lestage of Watertown, Mass., in a South Royalton cemetery. In 2001, he was charged with stalking and inappropriately touching three 11-year-olds in Burlington. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of prohibited acts.
Join The Conversation
Welcome to your discussion forum:
Verified accounts are now required for immediate posting. Please verify your e-mail address in Disqus, or sign in with your social networking account. You may also post using your e-mail address (which will remain private), but those posts will first need to be approved by the moderator. Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion or approval of the Bennington Banner. This forum encourages open, honest, respectful and insightful discussions; there is no need to be offensive. Read our guidelines.