Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II, announced today that Frank Womack, 59, of Newark, was convicted by an Essex County jury of four counts of violating Community Supervision for Life following a one-day trial before the Honorable Arthur Batista, Judge of the Superior Court.
The jury deliberated for 14 minutes before finding him guilty.
“Community Supervision for Life, commonly referred to as CSL, is a special sentence imposed on convicted sex offenders, to ensure they are supervised even after they are released from prison. Sex offenders subject to CSL are monitored by the New Jersey Parole Board and must adhere to the conditions imposed upon them. This defendant did not do that and the jury, by its verdict, found him guilty of violating CSL,’’ said Assistant Prosecutor Jason Lesnevec.
“The defendant could have reported to his parole officer, as instructed, within the 14 minutes that it took the jury to return four separate guilty verdicts in this case. The children of Essex County can sleep soundly at night knowing that convicted sex offenders must strictly comply with the terms of their post-conviction monitoring,” Assistant Prosecutor Lesnevec added.
According to authorities, Womack was placed on Community Supervision for Life after being convicted on April 4, 2000 of third degree endangering the welfare of a child for engaging in sexual conduct with a child. After he was released from state prison, he was required to follow certain rules.
At trial, it was revealed that in January 2018, Womack went on the run and was unable to be located by the New Jersey State Board of Parole. He was found and arrested months later in Newark. During the months he remained at large, Womack did not reside at an approved residence, did not report to parole, and did not complete his sex offender counseling. He was indicted on four violations of Community Supervision for Life, all fourth-degree felonies.
Sentencing for Womack is scheduled for April 29, before Judge Batista. He faces up to 18 months in prison for each of the four counts of the indictment, which could run consecutively.