Defendant Arrested for “groping” in Jersey City, NJ

How much trouble can you get into nowadays if you grab a woman’s butt without her permission? Well according to a recent news article the answer is A LOT OF TROUBLE. In fact, according to this story, a man was charged with second degree sexual assault after groping a woman’s buttocks on the street. The exact facts of the story are listed out below.

Port Authority police arrested a local man yesterday morning after he allegedly groped a woman on a street corner. Police said released information that this was not the man’s first brush with the law and that he had an “extensive criminal history”.

The victim was a 23-year-old woman who was walking near the intersection of Montgomery and Summit avenues at about 6 a.m. when the defendant supposedly came from behind and forcibly grabbed her buttocks, said Joe Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority Police Department.

Two bicyclists who witnessed the events quickly came to the woman’s aid and intervened and scared off the defendant, according to police. Shortly thereafter the bicyclists were able to flag down two Port Authority Police officers in the area and told them what happened. The defendant was soon apprehended a short time later only about a half-mile away at Summit and Van Reipen Avenues.

This information was originally published by a NJ.com news article which states that the defendant was charged with criminal sexual assault. In my experience, the charge should most likely be downgraded to a less serious 4th degree criminal sexual contact because the victim is over 18 years and there were no allegations of sexual penetration. Groping cases are fairly common in New Jersey and often involve a dare, mistaken identity, or simply a cheap thrill. However, what many people fail to realize is that these charges are very serious and a conviction of even a 4th degree criminal sexual contact involves Megan’s Law registration. Therefore it is always best to seek the advice and representation of an experienced attorney if you have been charged under similar circumstances.

With more than a decade of experience defending clients against criminal charges, founding partner William A. Proetta has successfully handled and tried thousands of cases, from DWI to murder. As a New Jersey native, he has focused his career on helping people in the area where he grew up, serving Middlesex, Ocean, Hudson, and Union counties.