ELIZABETH, NJ – An Elizabeth teacher has been arrested and charged for a series of sexual assaults against a 14-year-old student.
An Elizabeth high school teacher has been charged after having committed acts of sexual misconduct with a minor student over the course of several months, Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel, Elizabeth Police Director Earl Graves and Police Chief Giacomo Sacca jointly announced Monday.
Bipradas Mookerjee, 72, of North Brunswick, has been charged with third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
In mid-January, the Elizabeth Police Department received a report of a sexual assault upon a 14-year-old female, which was referred to the Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Victims Unit. That investigation revealed that the alleged incidents occurred from October of 2021 into January of this year, while Mookerjee worked as a math teacher at Frank J. Cicarell Academy in Elizabeth, according to Unit Supervisor and Assistant Prosecutor Caroline Lawlor, who is prosecuting the case. The 14-year-old victim was a student at the school during the period of the alleged criminal acts, Lawlor said.
Mookerjee was arrested without incident last Tuesday and lodged in the Union County Jail. He was subsequently released after a pretrial detention hearing in Union County Superior Court, and is currently on supervised release awaiting his next court appearance.
Anyone with further information about Mookerjee is being urged to contact Elizabeth Police Officer Johanna Rivera of the Special Victims Unit at 908–348-0999.
Convictions on third-degree criminal charges are commonly punishable by 3 to 5 years in state prison.
These criminal charges are mere accusations. Each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.