Kids, 7 & 6, fondled at Japanese cultural school, authorities say

A Cliffside Park man who works at a popular River Road supermarket in Edgewater is charged with fondling three youngsters — one 7 and the others six years old — at a Japanese cultural school in River Edge where he taught on weekends.

Jerry DeMarco

06/30/2009 1:00 a.m.

Ichikawa

Takuya Ichikawa, 21, who works as a cook and cashier at Matsuwa Market Place, touched the youngsters’ genitals over their clothing at Kids International, Inc., a Japanese Cultural School held on Saturdays at 109 Continental Avenue in River Edge, said Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli.

The children told detectives the incidents occurred on Saturdays between last October and this April, the prosecutor said.

Ichikawa is being held on $75,000 bail at the Bergen County Jail, charged with sexual assault and child endangerment. He had to surrender his passport and cannot contact the children or their families.

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