NORWICH – After failing to retract a confession he says was obtained through police coercion, a Guilford man ended up pleading guilty to sexually molesting an 11-year-old boy last week.

A tearful 61-year-old Leroy F. Bigelow of Guilford pleaded guilty to first degree criminal sexual act (a Class B felony) and was sentenced seven and a half years in state prison last Wednesday.

Only a few days earlier, Bigelow’s Public Defender Alan Gordon attempted to have Bigelow’s confession tossed out, claiming police had promised his client they would be easier on him if he cooperated.

District Attorney Joseph A. McBride called New York State Investigator Laura Gregory to the stand and she recounted statements Bigelow gave her on Nov. 28, 2008, just days after the crime allegedly occurred.

In those statements, Gregory reported Bigelow said he walked in on the 11-year-old and another boy, 6, as they were watching pornography on television.

According to the statement, Bigelow said the 11-year-old asked him to participate and instigated the sexual contact.