Appeals court upholds conviction of Fair Lawn man in infant's sex assault

By Peter J. sampson

Record file photo

John Katsigiannis in court in 2011.

An appeals court Wednesday upheld the conviction of a Fair Lawn man for molesting a 15-month-old girl but sent the case back to Bergen County for a review of the trial judges analysis in imposing a 15-year prison sentence.

Jurors in 2012 took less than 30 minutes to find John Katsigiannis guilty of a single count of first-degree sexual assault stemming from the digital penetration of his girlfriends infant daughter. His first trial on related charges had ended a year earlier with a deadlocked jury after five days of deliberation.

Katsigiannis, 31, is serving his sentence at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel. He must serve nearly 13 years before he is eligible for parole.

"We were hoping for a different result," said John Bruno Jr., Katsigiannis lawyer. "We now have to meet with the family to see if they want us to pursue an appeal to the Supreme Court."

Katsigiannis was convicted of molesting the child during a barbecue with friends at his home in June 2007. He claimed he accidently scratched the girl while changing a diaper, but prosecutors said he used his finger so forcefully that he caused injuries that required surgery.

On appeal, Katsigiannis raised a series of points, including arguments that his statement to police acknowledging the contact should have been suppressed, that the judge erred by failing to give the jury the option of finding lesser-included offenses, and that the charges should have been dismissed and a new trial granted. He also challenged his sentence as excessive.

In a 39-page opinion, a three-judge Appellate Division panel rejected all the arguments and affirmed the conviction.

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Appeals court upholds conviction of Fair Lawn man in infant's sex assault