A Union County grand jury has returned a four-count indictment against a Plainfield man charged with repeatedly sexually assaulting a child earlier this year, acting Union County Prosecutor Thomas K. Isenhour announced Thursday.
Walter Sosa, 33, is charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual assault, and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
A Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit investigation initiated in early August 2017 revealed that Sosa sexually assaulted the victim, who is under the age of 18, numerous times during the previous seven months. While attempting to locate Sosa, investigators distributed to the local media and public a photo and description of him, but it was later discovered that he had fled the area.
Special Victims Unit investigators managed to track Sosa south, and he was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals Service in Arlington, Texas on Wednesday, August 23, 2017. He was subsequently extradited back to New Jersey.
Anyone with information about Sosa’s activities still is being urged to contact Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit Sgt. Timothy Durkin at 973-698-9529 or Detective Nicholas Falcicchio at 908-721-8186.
Convictions on first-degree crimes of this nature are commonly punishable by up to 20 years in state prison, with at least 85 percent of the term to be served before the possibility of parole under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act.
These criminal charges are mere
accusations. Each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.