FREEHOLD – A Monmouth County grand jury returned a 3-count indictment Friday charging a Hazlet man with the sexual assault of a nursing home patient, announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Todd Fulton, 43, of Hazlet, is charged in the indictment with one count of first degree Aggravated Sexual Assault, one count of second degree Sexual Assault, and one count of second degree Official Misconduct.

The charges stem from a joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Special Victim’s Bureau and Wall Township Police Department. The investigation was initiated on April 4, 2015, when administrative staff at the Geraldine Thompson Nursing Home in Wall reported to township police an elderly female patient disclosed she had been sexually assaulted by a member of the staff.

At the time of the disclosure, the victim was not able to provide the identity of the staff member.  Fulton was identified as her alleged assailant through an investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and New Jersey State Police Forensic Laboratory and Wall Township police. At the time of the assault, Geraldine Thompson Nursing home was owned and operated by the County of Monmouth.  Todd Fulton was employed as a Certified Nursing Assistant at the nursing home facility.

Fulton is currently lodged in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township.

If convicted of first degree Aggravated Sexual Assault, Fulton faces a potential sentence of incarceration of up to 20 years in New Jersey State Prison; if convicted of second degree Sexual Assault, Fulton faces up to 10 years in prison. Pursuant to the “No Early Release Act,” both Aggravated Sexual Assault and Sexual Assault require that the defendant serve 85 percent of any sentence imposed before being eligible for release on parole. If convicted of second degree Official Misconduct, the defendant faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison with 5 years parole ineligibility.

The case is assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fichter. Fulton is represented by Joseph Compitello, Esq., of Tinton Falls.

Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.

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