Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray announced today that the Honorable Judge Peter V. Ryan, J.S.C., sentenced Salvador Storch, 49, of West Orange to 30 years in state prison for aggravated sexual assault of a girl over a three year period.
On Thursday May 24, 2012, a jury found Storch, a West Orange mechanic, guilty of three counts of first degree aggravated assault, three counts of second degree sexual assault by sexual contact and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Evidence at the trial showed Storch sexually abused the girl over a three year period starting when she was 11 years old and ending when she was 13 years old. The abuse came to light because the girl was not attending school regularly.
At trial Storch’s defense was that he was intoxicated during the incidents and lacked the mental capacity to have the required criminal intent but the jury rejected that argument.
The jury deliberated only 3 ½ hours before reaching its verdict. Judge Ryan sentenced Storch under the No Early Release Act which requires the defendant to serve 85 percent of his 30-year sentence before he is eligible for parole. After his sentence is completed Storch faces deportation back to his home country of Mexico.
Assistant Prosecutor Tony Gutierrez, of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, who tried the case, said, “This sentence sends a clear message that those who prey on children will be held accountable. I want to thank the West Orange Police Department and the sexual assault nurse for their excellent work in getting the evidence used to successfully prosecute this case.’’
Det. Mignon from the West Orange Police Department obtained a confession from the defendant. Julia Browning, a nurse who deals with sexual assault victims, recovered the DNA used in the prosecution of the case.
The victim in this case, who is now 15 years old, is a minor whose name is being withheld for privacy reasons.
