Defendant Richard Yhlen, 37, of Seaside Heights, NJ, was found guilty on Wednesday (2/11) by a jury before Judge Wendel E. Daniels of 2 counts of 1st Degree Aggravated Sexual Assault and 2 counts of 2nd Degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child. He was found not guilty of 3rd degree Resisting Arrest.
The trial began with pre-trial motions on January 15th, with testimony starting on Feb 3rd. The case involved sexual conduct on the part of Yhlen with 2 minor victims who were 5 and 7 years old at the time (now 7 and 10). The conduct occurred in Seaside Heights between April and August 31, 2012. Testimony at trial for the State included the two minor victims, the mother of the victims, Seaside Heights Police Department Officer Edward Pasieka and Detective Elijah Bryant, Forensic Nurse Examiner Pamela Litman and OCPO Detective Lindsay Woodfield. Victim witness advocate Debra Giordano assisted the family throughout the trial. Senior Assistant Prosecutor Terry Ann Linardakis prosecuted the case.
The jury deliberated for approximately one (1) hour before returning their verdict. Yhlen will now be sent for an evaluation through AVENEL prior to sentencing. He has been continuously incarcerated since his arrest on August 31, 2012.
Follow the Office of the Ocean County Prosecutor online at Twitter and Facebook. The social media links provided are for reference only. The OCPO does not endorse any non-governmental websites, companies or applications.
For additional information visit our website at www.oceancountyprosecutor.org.
The post GUILTY VERDICT IN AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT TRIAL appeared first on Ocean County Prosecutor Office.