05/20/2006

Republican-American (Waterbury, CT)
By BEN CONERY

Regan admits N.Y. offense

Waterbury man still also faces local kidnap charges

WATERBURY, CT - John Regan, the Overlook family man, pleaded guilty Friday in New York to trying to drag a Saratoga Springs High School girl into his van last Halloween.

Regan, 49, of 117 Euclid Ave., likely will be sentenced in July to 12 years in prison, Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III said.

The plea was not to a lesser charge and did not come under an agreement, Murphy said. Regan pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted kidnapping. Regan's lawyer, E. Stewart Jones, called the case "indefensible," according to the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union newspaper.

"Basically, we achieved the highest conviction without having to put the victim on the stand, "Murphy said in a written statement. "she was ready to go, but we were able to obtain the same result without having to put her through that trauma and confront Mr. Regan a second time."

Regan pleaded guilty to grabbing the girl, a senior on the high school's cross country team, and trying to pull her into his van. The girl screamed and kicked while Regan, who is 200 pounds, tried to cover her mouth with his hand, police said.

Eventually, the girl broke free and Regan took off in his van. The coach of the cross country team got in his car and followed Regan before police arrested him.

Regan had been in upstate New York working on houses owned by his uncle. Along with tools, police found a tarp and a rope tied into a noose inside Regan's van.

Regan, the married father of three sons, ages, 21, 18 and 15, comes from a prominent Waterbury family. Regan School is named for his grandfather, Frank G. Regan, a high school principal who retired in 1962. His father is retired dentist Frank G. Regan Jr., known as "Scoop" to his friends, who lives in Waterbury and on Cape Cod.

At the time of his arrest in New York, Regan was out on bond, facing charges in Waterbury stemming from two separate alleged attaches against women. He has been charged with two other crimes against women in Waterbury since his arrest in New York.

Regan was first arrested in 2004 and charged with trying to force himself sexually on a female co-worker. He was later charged with stalking the woman after he was arrested.

A DNA sample taken after his arrest linked him to a notorious 1993 case, police said.

In that case, police said, Regan broke into the woman's home and raped her. Police bungled the investigation and the woman later won a lawsuit against the department. The case sparked the department to change the way it handled sexual assault investigations.

He faces kidnapping charges in the 1993 case because the statue of limitations expired on sexual assault charges before he was arrested.

The charges in Waterbury are pending, but his plea in New York could affect those cases.

"All the publicity because of this guilty plea is certainly not going to help his case," said attorney Martin Minnella, who represents Regan in the case involving his co-worker. Hope Seeley, a Hartford lawyer representing Regan in the 1993 case, declined to comment.

Waterbury State's Attorney John Connelly said he will discuss a plea agreement with Regan's lawyers after he returns to Connecticut. Regan will be brought here after he is sentenced on July 14 to face the Connecticut charges.

Minnella said a potential plea agreement depends on the offer Connelly makes. Regan faces decades in prison if convicted at trial.