A 23-year-old Hackensack man was arrested following what authorities called a sexually inappropriate incident with an underage partner at a local park.
Angel Jonathan Cadme-Avendano, who works as a technician for a biomedical engineering company in Allendale, was sent to the Bergen County Jail on Tuesday to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
The NJIT graduate committed the offense at a Hackensack park last month with a minor who was between 16 and 18 at the time, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
"Sexual contact" is defined under state law as the “intentional touching by the victim or actor, either directly or through clothing, of the victim’s or actor’s intimate parts for the purpose of degrading or humiliating the victim or sexually arousing or sexually gratifying the actor.”
It can also include “sexual contact of the actor with himself” if the contact was “in view of the victim whom the actor knows to be present.”
Although the age of consent in New Jersey is 16, it’s raised to 18 if the older partner is a close relative or in a position of authority over the alleged victim -- a teacher, work supervisor or guardian, for instance.
An investigation began after the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency contacted Musella’s Special Victims Unit “regarding an allegation of criminal sexual contact of a minor,” the prosecutor said Tuesday.
Cadme-Avendano subsequently was charged with fourth-degree criminal sexual contact and third-degree child endangerment, he said.
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