By: Richard L. Smith
Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II announced that Superior Court Judge Verna G. Leath sentenced Thomas Crandell yesterday to 106 years in state prison for sexually assaulting two teenage girls.
Under the No Early Release Act, Crandell, 53, of Newark, must serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole. If released, he would be subject to parole supervision for life.
He must also register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law.
According to Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Spokesman Robert Florida, following a trial before Judge Leath, the jury found Crandell guilty of all 26 counts brought against him in the indictment, including five counts of first degree Aggravated Sexual Assault, 14 counts of second-degree Sexual Assault, four counts of second-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, two counts of third-degree Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact, and one count of fourth-degree Sexual Contact.
Officials said Crandell began sexually assaulting one of the victims when she was 14 years old.
He continued sexually assaulting her until she was 17 years old, when the crimes were reported, said Nicole Buermann, an Assistant Prosecutor in the Special Victims Unit of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Crandell sexually assaulted the first victim’s younger sister twice in the summer of 2018 when she was 14 years old.
Buermann credits the Irvington Police Department and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit for their diligent investigation of the case.