Saugerties resident Kirk Shultis, Jr., who in 2022 faced charges of felony custodial interference and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child in the alleged disappearance of his daughter, pleaded guilty to burglary in Ulster County Court last week.
Just prior to jury selection on Monday, April 22, Shultis, Jr. pled guilty to the felony charge of second degree burglary, admitting to judge Bryan Rounds his actions in the burglary of a Saugerties home between September 21-22, 2022. According to authorities, Shultis, Jr. was arrested by State Police in December 2022 and charged with criminal impersonation after giving a fake name at a traffic stop on Route 32 in Saugerties. Shultis, Jr. was taken into custody after two Saugerties police detectives identified him.
In a press release, district attorney Emmanuel Nneji said, “Crimes like the burglary committed by this defendant have the impact of degrading a community’s sense of security. I commend the collaboration with Saugerties Police Department (SPD) in this case that has resulted in a successful prosecution, and reiterate our office’s commitment to vigorously prosecuting such cases.”
An accomplice in the burglaries, Matthew Doyle, who pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary on May 11, 2023, and was sentenced to six years in state prison.
The case against Shultis, Jr. is being prosecuted by ADA Sohil Sharedalal who is also the animal crimes unit chief, and general felonies bureau chief Robert Knapp. According to the DA’s office, Shultis, Jr. is represented by attorney Matthew Mahan of Marlboro. Mahan could not be reached for comment.
Shultis, Jr. is the father of Paislee Shultis, who was found with her mother Kimberly Shultis hiding beneath a staircase in a Saugerties home more than two years after the girl was reported missing.
On February 14, 2022, Saugerties police received information that Paislee Shultis was being held in a residence at 35 Fawn Road, the home of her paternal grandparents. That evening, with assistance from the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation and uniformed troopers, the SPD executed a search on the residence, where they said paternal grandfather Kirk Shultis, Sr. denied knowing of Paislee’s whereabouts and told them he hadn’t seen her since she was first reported missing in July 2019 from Cayuga Heights in Tompkins County by her maternal grandmother, her court-appointed guardian.
During the search, six-year-old Paislee and her mother Kimberley were found in a small, dark and damp space beneath a closed staircase leading to the basement. Kimberley, then 33, was charged with custodial interference and endangering the welfare of a child. She was also wanted on an active warrant of arrest issued through Ulster Family Court. Additionally, Paislee’s father, Shultis, Jr., was charged with felony custodial interference and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child. Kirk Shultis, Sr., was similarly charged.
In July of last year, custody of Paislee Shultis had been returned to her mother, with criminal charges against Kimberley Shultis related to the alleged abduction adjourned pending dismissal
Attorney Carol Morgan, who represented Kimberly Shultis in court, released a custodial update statement last July, saying that both Paislee and her older sister were together with their mother.
“These children were happy, they are happy, they were not locked under any stairs, they are back with their mom and the rest of their extended family consisting of grandparents, aunts, uncles and many cousins, and the girls will continue to flourish with the love they deserve,” said Morgan.
Morgan added that after the story was reported nationwide, rumors of the Fawn Road home containing a hidden secret apartment and a system of escape routes, and that Paislee was found in a locked box began to spread. Morgan said these rumors were false.
“None of these things were true,” Morgan said in her statement. “It must be clear that what is reported by ‘reliable sources’ in the press are not always true and they do not reflect the intricacies of every case.”
Sentencing for Kirk Shultis, Jr. in the burglary case is scheduled for Monday, July 8.
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