A New Jersey appellate court recently upheld the sexual assault conviction of a former firefighter in Hackensack, NJ.

The 42-year-old suspect was accused of committing sex crimes against the 13-year-old victim while the victim’s mother was asleep in the other room. According to prosecutors in the case, the victim’s mother was recovering from surgery at the time.

When the mother learned of the sexual assault, she engaged the suspect in a phone conversation and recorded him as he admitted to the sex crime.

In 2013, the suspect was convicted on two counts of sexual assault, as well as single counts of criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child.

The suspect was later sentenced to 10 years in New Jersey State Prison for the sexual assault conviction, as well as 4 years in state prison for the child endangerment conviction. The sentences were imposed consecutively, meaning that the defendant was essentially sentenced to 14 years in prison.

The defendant appealed the convictions, arguing that the prosecutor’s closing statement was out of line and affected the jury’s decision in the case. However, the appellate court has now upheld the convictions.

The defendant did win his appeal of the consecutive sentences in the case. The appellate court sent the case back to the Bergen County Superior Court so that the judge could consider re-sentencing the defendant on the child endangerment charge. The judge will have to decide whether to maintain the consecutive sentences or merge the sentences to run concurrently.

For further information about this case, access the NJ.com article entitled “Ex-Firefighter’s Teen Sex Assault Conviction Upheld.”