Jury Convicts Long Branch Man of Aggravated Sexual Assault Of 7-Year-Old Girl

A Monmouth County grand jury convicted a Long Branch man of aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child stemming from a 2014 incident, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said.

Edgar Mejia, 54, Long Branch, was found guilty on Wednesday in the case involving the little girl. He is slated for sentencing on March 17, 2017 before Monmouth County before Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman.

The charges stem from a July 2014 incident in Eatontown. The victim was at a relative’s house, alone in a bedroom with the defendant. Mejia touched the victim’s intimate parts and committed an act of sexual penetration on her, Gramiccioni said.

That same evening, the little girl reported the incident to her mother. The victim was later examined at the hospital, which prompted an investigation by the Eatontown Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Special Victims Bureau. Mejia was arrested on July 21, 2014 as a result of that investigation.

Mejia faces between 25 years to life in a New Jersey state prison for the first degree aggravated sexual assault, subject to the provisions of the Jessica Lundsford Act, which requires that he serve a minimum of 25 years before he is eligible for parole, Gramiccioni said.

Mejia faces a sentence between 3 to 5 years in state prison on the charge of endangering the welfare of a child. He will have to register as a Megan's Law offender and have lifetime parole, he said.

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