Man Returned To New Jersey After Being Convicted Of Sex Crimes

Elizabeth, NJ – Authorities said on Saturday that a man who escaped the country before he was convicted of sex crimes against a young boy has been returned to New Jersey.

According to the Union County prosecutors, 47-year-old Nikolaos Katogiritis was tracked to the Dominican Republic and was taken into custody at a hotel there by U.S. Marshals and Dominican law enforcement forces. On Friday, he was returned to New Jersey and was charged with bail jumping.

Earlier in September, Katogiritis disappeared, sometime during the time period of 2 days that jurors deliberated the charges against him, according to the prosecutors.

The panel found him guilty of sex assault, child endangerment and lewdness.

Within next few days, a sentencing date for the former Elizabeth resident will likely be scheduled and he will be summoned to court on the charges. He has to face up to 10 years in state prison on the sex crime charges if convicted and could face another 5 years of bail jumping.

Prosecutors told that Katogiritis went to a 12-year-old boy in the shower area of the pool locker room, the incident happened in 2012 and in the month of August. Then he exposed himself to the boy and began touching himself, then forced the boy to do the same and asked to perform a sexual act on him. The boy escaped the area and immediately told a relative about the incident. After 1 day, Katogiritis was taken into custody by the police officers.

Acting Union County Prosecutor Grace Park said, “We want to sincerely thank our county and federal law enforcement partners for helping us locate and apprehend this defendant to ensure that he is made to answer for these serious crimes. This marks another example of the extraordinary results that arise with multi-agency cooperation”.

News Source: www.APP.com