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Jorge Molina, 60, admitted putting the boy’s penis in his mouth and touching his genitals through his clothing in exchange for the sentence and a dismissal by prosecutors of charges that he forced the boy to do the same to him.
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Marybel Mercado Ramirez said the plea agreement was the best resolution under the circumstances for the boy, now 16, and his family, who didn’t want to endure the trauma of a trial.
The impact of Molina’s behavior on them was devastating: The Colombian native had been a pedophile for many years, and what he did to the boy created a “chain of acting-out sexual behavior” that affected everyone, the prosecutor said.
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Marybel Mercado Ramirez, Jorge Molina (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
Molina, who worked at a Norwood nursing home, was caring for the boy and his younger brother when the assaults occurred, authorities said.
According to Ramirez, the boy old reacted to the abuse by assaulting his younger brother, who in turn assaulted someone else.
When investigators talked to family members, the boy’s mother told them that Molina molested her as a child, as well, she said. Other family members said he did the same to them, Ramirez told the judge.
“The sadness of this case shows the permeating nature of sexual assault and its after-effects,” the prosecutor said.
She also faulted Molina’s evaluation at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel, saying the subsequent report is “not worth the paper it’s written on.
“The defendant blames the victim for everything,” Ramirez said. “He claims the victim asked him to perform fellatio on him at the age of five years old, and apparently Mr. Molina was unable to resist.
“Although Avenel claims he’s not repetitive and compulsive, the evidence shows otherwise,” she continued. “And I am hard-pressed to believe that Mr. Molina was drunk every time this happened, because he would have had to be perpetually drunk for at least several years.
“He is a pedophile, a classic sex offender,” Ramirez concluded, in asking the judge to uphold the plea agreement to its maximum.
Guida agreed.
Although he noted that he could sentence Molina only for the guilty plea involving the boy, the judge said that was a serious enough offense to warrant 10 years.
For one thing, he said, “there is a high risk of another offense.”
“Under other circumstances, we would be looking at 20 years on the first count alone,” Guida said, “but I understand why the plea is as it is.”
Guida sentenced Molina to 10 years under the No Early Release Act, which carries 8½ years of mandatory time before parole.
He’s already served 1½ years in jail awaiting the resolution of his case, which means he can be out in seven years.
The sentence includes what essentially are moot penalties.
For one thing, the judge fined Molina $5,000 that his lawyer said he doesn’t have. He also put Molina on parole supervision for life under both Megan’s and Nicole’s laws — but said the Colombian native will be deported once his prison term is up.
STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
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