Morris Leader

Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, Chief of Detectives Christoph Kimker, and Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Chief of Police Richard Pantina announce that a jury has found Amit Bhatt, 43, formerly of Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, New Jersey, guilty on all charges related to an aggravated sexual assault that occurred on October 28, 2017, in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township.

The jury returned a guilty verdict on January 27, 2023, following a three-day trial. The defendant was found guilty of first degree Aggravated Sexual Assault, second degree Sexual Assault, and third degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

A sentencing date has been scheduled for March 17 before the Honorable Ralph Amirata, J.S.C. The defendant will remain in custody until that time and was detained on Bergen County charges involving the possession of child sexual abuse material yesterday. http://ow.ly/oHSN50MFBbl
At sentencing, the Aggravated Sexual Assault and Sexual Assault convictions are subject to the No Early Release Act (NERA), which make the defendant ineligible for parole until he has served 85% of the sentence imposed. As required by the Jessica Lunsford Act, the defendant must receive a sentence between 25 years and life imprisonment of which he must serve 25 years or more before becoming eligible for parole on the Aggravated Sexual Assault charge.

The charges arose from an incident that occurred on October 28, 2017, in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, wherein defendant performed sex acts on and touched the inner thigh of an eight-year-old child. Members of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Department and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes & Child Endangerment Unit conducted an investigation into the incident after being notified of the victim’s disclosure by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office on January 11, 2022.
Prosecutor Carroll would like to thank and acknowledge the agencies that participated in the investigation which led to the successful guilty verdict, including the Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Police Department, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Morris County Prosecutor's Office Sex Crimes & Child Endangerment Unit. The Prosecutor also credited the Trial Team, Assistant Prosecutor Vanessa I. Craveiro and Assistant Prosecutor Taylor Sharofsky, with their professional and dedicated service; and commended MCPO Sex Crimes & Child Endangerment Unit Detective Sergeant Lydia Negron and Detective Lamar Hagans, and Detective Jermaine Pledger of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Department, and all others who contributed to the investigation and successful prosecution in this case. 

Original source can be found here.