A 55-year-old Atlantic City man was sentenced Friday for the 2012 sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy, Acting Atlantic County Prosecutor Diane M. Ruberton announced.
Nestor J. Echevarria, 55, of Atlantic City, was sentenced Friday, November 4, 2016, by Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Bernard E. DeLury Jr. to 10 years in New Jersey State Prison for the January 8, 2012 sexual assault of a 14-year-old male.
According to authorities, on January 8, 2012, the 14-year-old victim and his mother went to the Atlantic City Police Department and reported that the boy had been sexually assaulted early the same morning by the father of a friend, at whose Atlantic City house he had slept the night before.
An investigation by Atlantic City Police Department detectives resulted to the arrest without incident of Nestor J. Echevarria the same day. Echevarria was charged on a Criminal Warrant Complaint with Sexual Assault, for “committing an act of sexual penetration upon ... a juvenile, using physical force or coercion.” Police processed the arrest, and lodged Echevarria in the Atlantic County Justice Facility on $250,000 full cash bail, set by Atlantic City Municipal Court Judge Bruce Weeks. Echevarria was subsequently released on bail.
An Atlantic County Grand Jury indicted Echevarria for the sexual assault on March 28, 2013. A superceding indictment was presented to on April 17, 2014; The Atlantic County Grand Jury returned a 3-count indictment for:
1. SexualAssaultbycommitting“anactofsexualpenetration...usingphysicalforce or coercion,
2. SexualAssaultbycommiting“anactofsexualpenetrationupon...amalejuvenile while [he] was at least 13 years old but less than 16 years old and Nestor J. Echevarria was at leart 4 years older,” and
3. Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
On April 21, 2016, an Atlantic County Jury deliberated for 35 minutes before returning a verdict of guilty on all counts. Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Bernard E. DeLury Jr. revoked Echevarria’s bail and and ordered him returned to custody.
This past Friday, November 4, 2016, Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Bernard E. DeLury Jr. sentenced Echevarria to 10 years of incarceration in New Jersey State Prison. Pursuant to the No Early Release Act (NERA), Camacho must serve 85% of the sentence—8 years and 6 months—before becoming eligible for parole.
The judge further ordered:
Parole supervision for life after Echevarria’s release from prison, and Megan’s Law registration.
Assistant Prosecutor Aaron Witherspoon, who represented the State in the case, said, “This was a tragedy, but we hope that it provides some solace for the victim, and for his family, that justice was served.”