FLORIDA — A Florida farmer was charged in connection with an all-terrain vehicle crash that killed an 8-year-old boy, the Montgomery County sheriff reported Tuesday.

David H. Kietzmann, 50, of 839 Thayer Road, owned the ATV and the field where Josiah Mazurkiewicz and a 10-year-old girl were taking turns riding, the sheriff said in a release. Josiah was killed as a result of the Saturday crash.

Undersheriff Jeff Smith said Josiah was visiting the girl, a neighbor of Kietzmann.

Kietzmann is a fourth-generation dairy farmer who hosted a Sundae on the Farm event in 2005, according to Gazette archives.

He was charged with two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child, one for each child. Smith said Kietzmann allowed the children to ride the 500-cc, four-wheel ATV unsupervised and without helmets.

State law requires children under 16 to ride an ATV with someone over 16, and then only if the child has passed a safety course. Children also are supposed to wear helmets when they’re riding the vehicles, Smith said.

Smith said Josiah lost control of the vehicle when riding it Saturday. He would not elaborate on details of the crash out of respect the boy’s family, Smith said.

He also would not comment on whether Josiah’s parents knew he was riding the ATV.

“The important message is that this is unacceptable and it should never be allowed to happen,” Smith said.

Kietzmann was issued appearance tickets to appear in the town of Florida court on Oct. 8 at 3:30 p.m.

Josiah was a third-grader at Division Street Elementary School, where officials said he was well-liked.

His grandparents, Laura Wait and Smitty Gayheart, live about two miles from Kietzmann’s farm.

Josiah was the son of Ross Mazurkiewicz of Saratoga Springs and Holly Gibson of Ballston Spa.

Visitation with the family is today from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. at William J. Burke & Sons /Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes, 628 N. Broadway.

Funeral services will be held Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Saratoga Springs, 624 N. Broadway.