DEAL – A 86-year-old man will be required to register as a sex offender for life after admitting to having sexual contact with a minor several times over the course of 10 years, officials said.
Hal Sitt of Deal was sentenced late last month and will serve five years of probation as well as pay slightly more than $134,000 in restitution to the victim.
According to authorities, Sitt touched the victim inappropriately and had her do the same to him at locations such as his home in Deal and at a park in Ocean Township. These incidents occurred at various times between about 1997 and 2008, officials said.
Sitt was arrested in April 2021 and earlier this year pleaded guilty to a charge of third-degree Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact. Following discussions with the victim, a plea agreement was reached.
“For many victims of sexual abuse, the passage of time does little to ease the life-altering damage that they suffered. We hope that the resolution of this case sends a clear message to perpetrators and victims alike: it doesn’t matter how long ago the abuse occurred, or what age the defendant is now – such monstrous crimes demand a reckoning,” Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said. “We know that it cannot undo the terrible things done to the victim by this defendant in her youth, but we hope it offers some small measure of solace.”
