By Audrey Levine Staff Writer
A former Hillsborough resident was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for second-degree sexual assault, with a concurrent sentence for third-degree endangering the welfare of a child after a December 2005 incident in Hunterdon County.
Michael Parlin, 37, was found guilty in April of the two charges of fondling a 10-year-old girl and sticking his hand down her pajama pants while staying at her home in Alexandria Township.
Hunterdon’s Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Solari said Mr. Parlin – who was staying with his mother in Hillsborough before moving to Alexandria Township – was found not guilty of first-degree aggravated sexual assault.
Mr. Parlin, who was sentenced by state Superior Court Judge Roger Mahon in Flemington, will be required to register under the New Jersey Megan’s Law and will be under parole supervision for life.
He will be required to serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, equal to about eight and a half years. He has already served about 672 days of the term and has a 266-day credit time credit from serving time for prior convictions, Ms. Solari said.
”He has served time on other matters,” she said, “but he has been in jail since the day after the 2005 incident.”
Because of the built-up time, Ms. Solari said, Mr. Parlin should be eligible for parole in about six and a half years.
Ms. Solari said Mr. Parlin has never before been convicted for a sex offense, but has prior convictions for assault, drugs, property damage and other incidents. Because of these prior offenses, Mr. Parlin could have been sentenced for 20 years, but Judge Mahon denied a motion to double the sentence.
According to an news articles, Mr. Parlin’s attorney, Lawrence West, said during the trial that Mr. Parlin suffered from a condition similar to sleep walking, and he never intended to commit the sexual assault. Ms. Solari had disputed the condition because Mr. Parlin never sought treatment for it.
Ms. Solari said Mr. West expressed the opinion that his client was likely to appeal the judge’s sentence.

