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On the flip side, it spares the victims the trauma of having to testify.
Jurors in Superior Court in Paterson originally convicted Victor Enamorado of three counts of sexual assault in 2015.
That conviction was among dozens that were subsequently nullified after the state Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that a particular legal theory involving sexually abused children shouldn't have been used.
Rather than risk another trial, Enamorado, now 45, took a deal from prosecutors.
This past Monday, Feb. 14, he pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes said.
In exchange, she said, her office will recommend that Enamorado be sentenced to 18 years in state prison.
Enamorado would have to serve 85% of that sentence before he could be eligible for parole under the No Early Release Act, she said. That comes out to a little over 15 years.
Enamorado must remain under lifetime parole supervision following his release, must register as a Megan’s Law offender and cannot have any contact with his victims under the terms of the plea agreement.
Members of the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit interviewed the pre-teens, as well as other witnesses, after the abuse was reported in February 2011, Valdes said.
The children told them they’d been sexually assaulted by Enamorado “multiple times over a three-year period,” she said.
Superior Court Judge Marybel MercoRamirez scheduled sentencing for May 6.
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