Prosecutor Wants Sexual Assault Conviction Reversal Reviewed

The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office wants the state’s Superior Court to review a decision by an appellate court that reversed the conviction of a man found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman outside a Butler bagel shop a few years ago.

Andrew Pena, 46, was found guilty in 2009 was sexually assaulting a then-19-year-old woman outside the G&A bagel shop on Route 23 in Butler, the Daily Record reported. He was originally sentenced to more than 27 years in prison.

Morris County Acting Prosecutor Fredric Knapp told the paper that “the evidence in the case will again support a conviction and we are fully committed to retrying the case if necessary.”

Pena is presumed innocent again but is still being held in state prison.