×

Hussain rejects plea deal

Lawyer says Indian snowshoer will “fight the charges”

Tanveer Hussain, left, walks into the St. Armand Town Hall in Bloomingdale in March with his attorney, Brian Barrett of Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo — Chris Knight)

BLOOMINGDALE — Tanveer Hussain has rejected a plea deal that would have allowed him to return home to Kashmir, India.

Instead, he will stay here and contest allegations that he sexually abused a 12-year-old Saranac Lake girl, according to Hussain’s lawyer, Brian Barrett.

“He wants to clear his name,” Barrett told reporters Tuesday outside the St. Armand Town Hall in Bloomingdale.

Hussain, 24, was arrested Wednesday, four days after he competed in the World Snowshoe Championships at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center. He was charged with first-degree sexual abuse, a felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

Village police said the charges stem from Hussain “engaging in a passionate kiss” with a 12-year-old victim and touching her in an intimate area over her clothing on the evening of Feb. 27 at a Park Avenue location in the St. Armand portion of the village.

A preliminary felony hearing in the case was scheduled for 2 p.m. today. Hussain appeared in court, but the hearing didn’t take place.

Earlier in the day, Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague asked town Judge Sheridan Swinyer for an adjournment. A preliminary hearing is usually held when a person is in jail. It has to be held within 144 hours of the time the person was arrested, or he or she can be released.

“In this case, (Hussain) posted bail, so that time frame is no longer,” Sprague told the Enterprise. “And with child witnesses and victims, the preferred course of action is to go directly to the grand jury so they don’t get victimized and traumatized from having to testify in open court with cross-examination and the defendant being there. Usually with any kind of sex case involving a child, that is my preference.”

Barrett’s office only learned of the request for an adjournment a short time before the hearing was set to take place. A little before 2 p.m., Hussain and Barrett walked into the town hall, greeted by television reporters and cameras from Fox News’s national network, regional TV stations WPTZ and WCAX, and other news media.

With an interpreter translating for Hussain, who doesn’t speak much English, Essex County Assistant District Attorney Jamie Martineau asked the judge to reschedule the hearing, continue to keep Hussain on bail, not return his passport and require him to stay in the county until the matter is resolved. Martineau said Hussain is a flight risk, noting he had a flight booked to leave the country from New York City on Saturday, the day after he was bailed out of jail.

“We feel if any conditions of the bail are changed, that it effectually creates the risk he will leave this country and never have to face these charges,” Martineau said.

Barrett asked the judge to release Hussain of his own recognizance pending further court proceedings. He said the plane ticket had been booked before his arrest.

“He is not going to leave the country,” Barrett said. “He absolutely denies these charges. We’ve been presented a plea offer where essentially he could accept a minor charge and walk out of here today. But he’s electing not to do that to stay in the United States and fight these charges.”

As a potential compromise, Barrett suggested the judge could keep Hussain’s passport and allow him to stay in the state, including New York City, where Barrett said there are people with whom Hussain can stay.

“We have a real problem with him being out on bail,” Barrett said. “There are no Kashmiri-speaking people in Saranac Lake. It would be sort of cruel and unusual punishment to keep him here confined and unable to talk to anybody.”

After hearing both sides, Swinyer said he would continue Hussain’s bail and the requirement that he stay in Essex or Franklin County, pending the next steps in the case.

Today’s proceedings lasted less than 10 minutes.

Outside the courtroom, Barrett told reporters his client is “in good spirits, and we’re looking forward to fighting these charges.”

Barrett said the plea deal Hussain rejected would have been an admission of guilt to endangering the welfare of a child, with a conditional discharge.

“We had tried to reach a resolution allowing the defendant to plead to a class A misdemeanor, with the opportunity to have him go back home to India, but he doesn’t want to accept that at this point,” Martineau said. “We’ll continue to review the case, and the next step will be potentially presenting the case to an Essex County grand jury.”

Since Hussain’s arrest, some people have questioned the girl’s account, including Abid Khan, Hussain’s traveling companion who returned home to India Saturday. Last week, Khan said the girl had followed him and Hussain around in an affectionate way during their stay in Saranac Lake. One day when they returned to the Porcupine Inn on Park Avenue, where they were staying, Khan said they found the girl playing pool with other guests. Khan said Hussain told him the girl tried to make an advance on him, but he turned her away.

“He says there was no contact at all,” Khan said.

Saranac Lake police Sgt. Casey Reardon has said police have enough evidence for probable cause, including other witnesses and social media.

Asked if she’s seen enough evidence to present the case to a grand jury, Sprague said that decision hasn’t been made yet.

“Right now, we’re still in the investigative procedure,” she said. “As the evidence is developed, that is a choice we will be making in the very near future.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.75/week.

Subscribe Today