TOMS RIVER, N.J. – A New Jersey man who sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl while her mother was hospitalized with cancer has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Thirty-seven-year-old Harvey Hatch must serve about a decade before becoming eligible for parole. He also must register as a sex offender.
Ocean County prosecutors say the girl's family had trusted Hatch to care for her while her mother was hospitalized in May 2009. He plied her with liquor and assaulted her after she fell asleep.
The girl didn't know she had been assaulted until a few weeks later, when Hatch offered her money and gifts to drink with him again. When she appeared reluctant, Hatch told her what he had done.
Hatch, of Brick, N.J., had pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault. He was sentenced Thursday.
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