Man Groped 12-Year-Old Girl At Hudson County Pool: Prosecutors

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — A man has been arrested for groping a 12-year-old girl at a public pool in Hudson County and for messaging another child, prosecutors said.

Malik Pardo, 26, of Union City, has been charged with sexual assault by contact and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, said the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutors said that Pardo was arrested Wednesday by members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit after they investigated a report that a 12-year-old girl was groped at a public pool in Union City in June 2024.

Investigators found that he also sent explicit messages to the victim and to a second victim, a 13-year-old girl, prosecutors said.

He was arrested in the area of New York Avenue and Ninth Street in Union City and taken to the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny to await his first court appearance, prosecutors said.

Anyone wishing to report a sex crime should call the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Special Victims Unit at 201-915-1234, prosecutors said.