Donald Rifanburg, 44, has been charged with second-degree rape, a felony, for allegedly having sex with a girl who is now 14 and eight months pregnant.
Rifanburg is the unborn baby's father, according to the girl's mother and Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl.
On Tuesday morning, the girl's mother said Rifanburg rented a house on the family's dairy farm in rural Otsego County.
``He was a good friend. He did a lot of work around here, fixed equipment, helped build the kitchen,'' she said. ``Don was a wonderful man in a lot of ways, but he has mental problems.''
The family ate suppers with him and trusted him implicitly, but he betrayed their trust, she said.
On more than one occasion, he had sex with her daughter, who became pregnant about eight months ago, she said.
The girl kept her condition a secret.
``She's pretty small and it was hard to tell, but I kept looking at her and wondering,'' she said. ``She didn't put on much weight, but she did get a little chunky.''
On July 21, ``I took her to the emergency room and that's when I found out for sure that she was pregnant,'' she said.
The Otsego County Department of Social Services and state police were notified, and Rifanburg was arrested that day.
He was charged with second-degree rape, arraigned and is being held at the Otsego County jail on $20,000 cash bail.
Muehl said Monday that a county grand jury will hear the case in the next few weeks, and he plans a vigorous prosecution.
``There's no excuse for it,'' he said.
Rifanburg retained Oneonta lawyer William Schebaum, who represented him in town court.
In county court, Rifanburg probably will be represented by the Public Defender's Office, Schebaum said Tuesday. Public Defender Richard Rothermel said he was unfamiliar with the case, although it may be assigned to an assistant public defender.
As the girl starts the ninth month of her pregnancy, she's doing pretty well under the circumstances, according to her mother.
``We want to keep the baby,'' she said. ``She's a girl and we already have a name picked out. In some ways, my daughter is lucky because she has a lot of support from her family and friends, and we all want to help.''
As the legal wheels turn for Rifanburg, the girl is receiving counseling and medical care, her mother said.
``She's not trying to hide anything. She's out in public, seeing people. And of course, we've been getting ready for the baby,'' she said. ``We've got clothes and everything else waiting.''
The baby is scheduled to be born at end of September, and her mother will be tutored at home before returning to public school in November.
When the 14-year-old returns to school, the family's newest arrival will be cared for by others in the family, the girl's mother said Tuesday.
Muehl said second-degree rape is punishable upon conviction by a maximum sentence of 2 1/3-to-7 years per incident.
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