State Capitol Police charged Daniel Esten on Wednesday with fourth-degree sexual assault. Esten is well-known to Capitol regulars as the clerk of the newsstand in the Legislative Office Building.
Esten, 66, of Bristol, turned himself in to police Wednesday. In a press release, Capitol police said they began investigating Esten following a complaint of “inappropriate contact with an individual” at the Capitol complex. He also has been charged with second-degree breach of peace.
A Hartford Superior Court judge issued the warrant and allowed Esten to be released on a promise to appear in court Aug. 21. Police declined to provide more details and as of Wednesday afternoon no affidavit had been filed in court.
Esten ran a small coffee shop in the state Capitol in the 1980s before the Legislative Office Building was built. He currently sells trinkets, gum, T-shirts, and souvenirs out of a small newsstand on the main floor of the Legislative Office Building. The concessions are run through the Board of Education and Services for the Blind.
Three years ago, according to this Courant article, lawmakers helped find him a guide dog.