He was accused of inviting young boys at the exclusive upstate Brant Lake Camp to watch movies, play games or “cuddle’’ with him — and then preying on them like a monster.
Now, after months of refusing to plead guilty to charges involving nine of his accusers, former Long Island teacher and camp counselor Dylan Stolz just copped to a deal set to put him away for 4 ¹/₂ years.
“The case has always been about these children and trying to get justice for them,” said Warren County District Attorney Jason Carusone after Stolz’s hearing Monday, reported the Post-Star newspaper.
“And I’m very happy for them,” he said of the kids. “They were strong enough to [testify]. But I’m glad they didn’t have to.’’
Stolz, 52, of Queens, worked during the school year at Ogden Elementary in Valley Stream as a fourth-grade teacher. He spent the past 33 summers as a counselor at the tony camp north of Lake George that draws affluent kids from the Big Apple, where tuition runs nearly $14,000 for about seven weeks.
The mom of an alleged Bronx victim had told the Post-Star that suspicions about Stolz’s behavior with the kids abounded before his arrest.
In June, fears about him allegedly turned into reality — when her 9-year-old son wrote home that Stolz touched his penis.
“He took something from my child that he can never get back,” the mother said.
Stolz was arrested, and a stream of boys ages 7 to 10 eventually stepped forward to say he molested them, too, authorities said.
Yet he maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty to the charges against him, including felonies for such crimes as first-degree sex abuse.
His lawyer, James Knox, has said his client was the victim of “elite families who had power and influence to set the wheels in motion” against him.
But the suspect agreed to a deal with prosecutors in the 11th hour that involved him pleading to charges involving two of the boys.
Stolz took what’s known as an Alford plea, telling the judge he won’t admit guilt but acknowledging that prosecutors probably had enough evidence to convict him.
Later, outside court, Stolz told the Post-Star he was “innocent.” He is set to be sentenced on June 21.
Phone numbers for Stolz were not working Tuesday, and no one answered the door at his address. Knox did not return requests for comment from The Post.
A man answering the phone at the camp said, “Right now, we’re not making any comments.’’
A rep for the Hewlett-Woodmere School District, where Stolz had been on administrative leave since his arrest, said officials “will be moving forward expeditiously to terminate his employment.”
With Post wires