Saugerties man in child abduction case admits to separate burglary charge

The Saugerties man accused of abducting and hiding his child in a space under a staircase in a custody dispute has pleaded guilty in a separate burglary case.

Kirk Shultis Jr., 34, admitted in Ulster County Court on Monday to burglarizing a home in Saugerties in September 2022. Shultis was arrested in December of that year. He pleaded guilty just before jury selection was to begin.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 8.

Shultis was arrested in February 2022 after police said that he, his father and the girl’s mother, abducted the then-4-year-old girl from the Ithaca area in 2019. The parents had lost custodial rights, and she was reported missing at the time. 

Police said that she had been living with the family since then and had her own room, but was moved to the space under the staircase whenever law enforcement would arrive.

All three were charged with endangering the welfare of a child and custodial interference.

Their case was handled in Family Court and the dispositions in these cases are typically kept confidential.