A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted the man once known as Clark Rockefeller of custodial kidnapping for absconding to Baltimore with his 7-year-old daughter during a post-divorce visitation last summer, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

Jurors also found CHRISTIAN KARL GERHARTSREITER (D.O.B. 2/21/61) guilty of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for directing an unwitting confederate to drive away from the scene while a social worker hired to monitor the July 27, 2008, visit clung to the vehicle’s door, causing the man to fall to the ground.

“We’re very pleased with the verdict,” Conley said. “Not only is it obvious that the jurors gave the evidence their full consideration, it’s clear that they utterly rejected the defendant’s claims of mental illness.”

Jurors acquitted Gerhartsreiter of assault and battery, which prosecutors alleged was incurred by shoving the social worker, and providing a false name – the Rockefeller moniker – upon his arrest six days later.

Judge Frank Gaziano sentenced Gerhartsreiter to a term of four to five years in state prison, approaching the five-year maximum term for custodial kidnapping under Massachusetts law.

Assistant District Attorney David Deakin, chief of Conley’s Family Protection and Sexual Assault Bureau, recommended a lengthy probationary term for Gerhartreiter following his release. Included in that recommendation were the conditions that he have no contact with his ex-wife or daughter except as ordered by a court with jurisdiction; that he undergo a full mental health evaluation and take part in any treatment deemed necessary; that he not profit from “any aspect of his personal history”; and that he be monitored by a global positioning system device for several years following his release.

Gaziano declined to adopt the probationary term or recommended conditions, but did sentence Gerhartsreiter to a two- to three-year term concurrent with his sentence on the lead charge. Gerhartsreiter must also provide a DNA sample for inclusion in a nationwide database.

The verdict came on the sixth day of deliberations and followed six days of testimony by 19 witnesses and the introduction of 33 separate physical exhibits.

Deakin proved that Gerhartsreiter came to the United States on a tourist visa in 1978, extended his visa as a student the following year, and in 1981 obtained resident status by marrying a Wisconsin woman in 1981. A short time after he obtained that status, Gerhartsreiter moved to California and never saw his wife again until she testified at his trial.

Evidence and testimony demonstrated that Gerhartsreiter adopted a series of identities in the 12 years that followed, settling on that of Rockefeller when he met Sandra Boss through her twin sister while both were living in New York City. They married in 1995 after she graduated from Harvard Business School and lived in New York until he insisted on moving in the late 1990s; they later shared a series of residences in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Boss was the sole wage earner for the family and would commute to New York while Gerhartsreiter – whom she knew as Rockefeller – stayed at home.

As their relationship began to deteriorate and her husband became more controlling, Boss considered divorce. In 2000, she learned she was pregnant and rededicated herself to the marriage; not even the birth of their daughter the following year could make the situation bearable, however, and she filed for divorce in 2007 amid questions about the defendant’s identity. She testified about her marriage and her initial reluctance to leave the relationship.

“Ms. Boss’ testimony did a great service to women in abusive relationships everywhere,” Conley said. “Abuse – whether it’s physical, emotional, or verbal – can happen even to the brightest, most successful, most dynamic people. There is no shame in speaking out, seeking help, and leaving the relationship.”

Rather than conclusively identify himself, Gerhartsreiter relinquished custody of their daughter in exchange for an $800,000 settlement. In the seven months that followed their divorce, he sent no cards, no letters, and no emails to the little girl; he neither called her nor reciprocated her efforts at maintaining contact. In March 2008, he canceled their first scheduled visitation, saying he was “too busy.”

“Those are not the actions of a man driven to abduct his daughter because he loved her,” Conley said. “He had every opportunity to demonstrate love but didn’t. Instead he demonstrated control.”

Gerhartsreiter exchanged a large portion of the cash settlement into gold – first into South African Krugerrand coins and later into American Eagle gold coins. Large transactions of Krugerrands must be reported to the federal government, while American Eagle coins are untraceable.

Prosecutors believe he used some of that gold to purchase the Baltimore residence near which he was arrested on Aug. 2 and inside which his daughter was found physically unharmed. Witness testimony showed that he had arranged to buy the residence well before the kidnapping under yet another phony name, telling the realtor that he was a ship’s captain with a home-schooled daughter. That realtor later recognized him from media coverage and notified the FBI. Federal agents, Boston Police, and local authorities took him into custody a short time later.

Gerhartsreiter was represented by attorneys Jeffrey Denner and Timothy Bradl. He will serve out his sentence at the Massachusetts Correctional Facility at Cedar Junction.