NJ karate instructor acquitted of sex assault

The owner of a Bloomfield-based karate school was acquitted of all charges on Friday. He faced two counts of sexual assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

In June of 2019, an 11-year-old student accused Edilberto Torres of inappropriate physical contact with her private areas. The student accused Torres of touching her for over a month. She said the touching would take place before classes when he agreed to watch her.

At trial, the alleged victim, her mother, a detective, and an agent of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office testified on behalf of the State. Torres had multiple witnesses testify on his behalf. A few witnesses testified to being there at the same time or before the alleged victim arrived at the karate school. A former classmate also testified that the victim told her these allegations were not true.

Attorney Brett Rosen represented Torres at trial. Attorney Rosen said the debilitations went on for about eight hours and was glad that the jury found his client not guilty of all charges.