Officials in Passaic County reported that Gabriel Sunuc, 31, from Passaic, was sentenced to thirty-seven (37) years in New Jersey State Prison by the Honorable Marybel Ramirez, a Judge of the Superior Court.
On August 27, 2018, members of the Passaic Police Department responded to a residence in the City of Passaic after receiving a 911 call from a fourteen-year-old minor who reported being explicitly contacted.
Prosecutor’s Office Detectives interviewed multiple witnesses, including the child victim.
The child reported being abused by Mr. Sunuc on multiple occasions between March 2015 and August 2018 at various residences in Passaic.
During the month of November 2021, Judge Ramirez presided over a jury trial wherein the State presented live testimony from the victim, the victim’s friend, the victim’s mother, the victim’s brother, a forensic scientist from the New Jersey State Police Laboratory Office of Forensic Sciences, and a detective from the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit who was involved in the investigation of this matter.
On November 9, 2021, a Passaic County petit jury convicted Mr. Sunuc on all counts of Passaic County Indictment Number 20-02- 0149-I, charging one count of first degree Aggravated Sexual Assault.
Mr. Sunuc’s conviction for first degree Aggravated Sexual Assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2a(1), falls under the provisions of the Jessica Lunsford Act, which was signed into law in the State of New Jersey in 2014 and requires sentencing courts to impose an enhanced punishment for a defendant convicted of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a victim who is less than thirteen-years old.
On May 13, 2022, Judge Ramirez sentenced Mr. Sunuc to thirty-seven (37) years in New Jersey State Prison, subject to a thirty-five year and two month parole disqualifier.
Upon release from prison, Mr. Sunuc will be subject to Parole Supervision for Life and Megan’s Law registration requirements.
The victim and her family members participated in court at the sentencing hearing.