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As a result, Kevin “Shorty” Ellis of Englewood left court a free man, sentenced to the 405 days he remained in jail before being bailed out, plus five years of probation.
Ellis, a 55-year-old career criminal, was about to be tried on seven counts of sexual assault and impairing the morals of a minor when the woman took ill.
When it appeared she wouldn’t be able to testify, she supported a deal. Ellis, in turn, pleaded guilty to a single fourth-degree charge of aggravated sexual assault for rubbing her vagina through her clothing three years ago.
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Kristin DeMarco
“Kevin Ellis is someone I have known to be a criminal all my life, and always on probation, and he continues to commit crimes,” the victim, now 21, wrote in an affidavit submitted yesterday by Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Kristin DeMarco. “Something needs to be done to this man so he doesn’t victimize other kids.”
Superior Court Judge Patrick Roma said he sometimes denies plea agreements that make him uncomfortable on legal grounds. The judge emphasized, however, that both sides have a right to expect that a plea agreement will be approved.
“There came a point where the state was unable to proceed, and this was the best you could do under the circumstances,” Roma said. “Sometimes we have to settle for that… The exceptional circumstances here do not exist.”
The original charges included: raping a child under 13 several times, exposing himself to her several times and improperly touching her other times.
According to one family member, Ellis — whose Bergen County criminal history includes dozens of offenses dating back nearly 20 years — forced the victim to comply by threatening to kill her parents.
“The apology you gave did not seem sincere,” the relative told Ellis in court. “What you did has outraged and disgusted me beyond words.”
Wrapped in her mother’s arms, the distraught victim listened to the older woman’s testimony and then as DeMarco read into evidence the events leading to Ellis’s arrest in June 2010.
She covered her eyes, sobbing quietly, as the prosecutor read a letter she’d written:
“As I sit here, I find it difficult to describe how these crimes affected my life, because there are few ways it didn’t. It’s as if my childhood never existed at all – it will always be remembered as a life-altering, scary time…. I felt shame, guilt and fear. I was only a little girl.
” There are no words to reflect the pain, fear and lifelong scar. I remain a shell of the person I could have been…. He took away my future by killing my childhood.
“I live for the day I visit his grave and know the nightmares are over.”
Roma gave Ellis a strict lecture on the limitations of his legal situation, explaining that he can be found a “compulsive, repetitive offender” — and, if so, could be civilly committed for the rest of his life.
“Take some time and discuss this important factor with your attorney,” the judge advised.
STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
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