West Orange Man Found Guilty of Sexual Assault

An Essex County jury convicted a West Orange man Thursday of sexually abusing a member of his family. 

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray announced that Salvador Storch, 49, was found guilty of 10 counts arising from the sexual abuse of a young family member over a number of years.

The jury deliberated for 3 1/2 hours over two days before reaching a verdict, Murray said. The jurors found Storch guilty of three counts of first degree aggravated assault, three counts of second degree sexual assault by sexual contact and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.  He was acquitted of one count of terroristic threats.

Storch, who worked as a mechanic, admitted to Detective Louis Mignone of the West Orange Police department that he was sexually abusing the victim from the age of 12 to 13.  His DNA was found on her body and underwear, but he essentially maintained that he was drunk at the time of the attacks and lacked the mental capacity to have the required criminal intent.

Assistant Prosecutor Tony Gutierrez, of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, who tried the case, was “pleased the jury rejected that defense.”

Storch is currently incarcerated at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 20 before Judge Peter V. Ryan.

“We will ask for a 60-year sentence,’’ said Gutierrez.

In addition to the state charges, Storch, who is a citizen of Mexico, faces deportation after he completes his prison sentence.