Medina testified that the child told her that defendant touched her body parts with his mouth and hands as well as his penis. The victim also reported conduct beyond touching when she met with Gladibel Medina, M.D., the State's expert pediatrician and specialist in child abuse. The victim was extensively crossexamined regarding the sleeping arrangements in a bedroom she shared with one of her sisters, and an undated affectionate letter she had written to defendant. When police conducted a videotaped interview, however, she reported that defendant had penetrated her vagina. 112 (1986).Īt trial, the victim described the sexual conduct as only touching. More specific information did not exist, but what was available satisfied the requirements of In re K.A.W., 104 N.J. Given her very young age at the time and defendant's threats to harm her mother, it was understandable that the victim would not have made any complaint for years. The judge explained that the victim's statements established a "continuous course" of conduct over years at certain addresses which sufficed to give defendant notice. Prior to trial, the judge denied defendant's motion for a bill of particulars regarding the dates, times, and places of the alleged assaults. Police were called and escorted defendant from the premises, but the victim's mother did not go to the authorities about her daughter until the second day after the disclosure. Late that night, after she saw defendant standing near a shed in the backyard, she began crying and screaming, "on't let him get me." She explained her reaction, first to her sister, and then to her mother. The victim disclosed defendant's abuse on August 19, 2010. She told no one because defendant threatened to kill her mother if she did so. The victim said she could not remember how often he did so, except that it was more than ten times and it "hurt." Although the victim could not remember dates, she said that the sexual assaults stopped only when defendant moved out in 2009. At those times, he would touch her vagina, breasts, and buttocks with his penis. The thirteen-year-old victim testified at trial that defendant, starting in 2006, would awaken her while her mother was at work. During the relevant years, the household consisted of the victim, her mother, her two teenage sisters, and two brothers. At some point in 2009, defendant and the victim's mother separated, although they occasionally saw each other outside the family home in an attempt to repair their relationship. In 2007, the family moved to Ridge Avenue.
Defendant appeals and we affirm.ĭefendant, the victim's mother's boyfriend, began to live with the family on Bangs Avenue in Asbury Park sometime in 2005. Appropriate Megan's Law requirements and parole supervision for life, along with mandatory fines and penalties, were also imposed. 2C:43-7.2(a), on count two ten years with five years of parole ineligibility on count three and five years with two years of parole ineligibility on count four, all to be served concurrently. 2C:443(a), imposed: a term of fifteen years subject to eightyfive-percent parole ineligibility pursuant to the No Early Release Act (NERA), N.J.S.A. On January 3, 2012, the trial judge, after granting the State's motion to sentence defendant as a persistent offender, N.J.S.A. The jury acquitted defendant of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4(a) (count three) and third-degree terroristic threats, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2(b) (count two) second-degree child endangerment, N.J.S.A. was convicted of seconddegree sexual assault, N.J.S.A. Gramiccioni, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Monica do Outeiro, Special Deputy Attorney General/Acting Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief). Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Alison Perrone, Designated Counsel, on the brief).Ĭhristopher J. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Monmouth County, Indictment No.