Belleville man sentenced to 35 years in prison in sexual assault of 9-year-old girl – NorthJersey.com

A Belleville man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after he sexually assaulted a 9-year-old girl in 2019, officials said.

Jose Santana, 60, will have to serve 85% of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Santana was convicted of three counts of aggravated sexual assault, two counts of sexual assault, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. Santana was convicted in November 2019 and his sentencing had been scheduled for January 2020 but it was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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The victim testified against Santana and said he forced her to watch child pornography in addition to being sexually assaulted, acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said. The girl was sexually assaulted multiple times when she was visiting Santana and his wife.

Child pornography was found on Santana’s computer when a search warrant was executed.

“Hopefully, this will give closure to the family and this little girl will be able to rest easy knowing her brave actions will prevent him from hurting her or anyone else in the future,” said Assistant Prosecutor Peter Polidoro.

Polidoro tried the case along with Assistant Prosecutor Tony Gutierrez.

Kaitlyn Kanzler covers Essex County for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kanzler@northjersey.com

Twitter: @KaitlynKanzler8