By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
A man convicted of raping a Princeton University student on campus 27 years ago was charged last month with breaking Megan’s Law by moving out of Princeton to Burlington County without telling police.
Michael Tufano, 46, relocated to Chesterfield, earlier this year. Per the law, he would have had to inform Princeton Police he was leaving and then re-register with Chesterfield Police — at least 10 days before the move. His lawyer, however, said Tuesday that Mr. Tufano had thought he was no longer bound to comply with the requirements of the law.
Princeton Police charged him July 18 with failing to notify them that he had relocated. Authorities in Chesterfield charged him with failing to inform them he had moved into their town, said Chesterfield police Chief Kyle Wilson by phone on Tuesday.
Chief Wilson noted that the case against Mr. Tufano originated with a noise complaint, with Mr. Tufano operating an ATV in June. A subsequent investigation led police to arrest him on July 20 on the Megan’s law violation.
The offenses are indictable, so Mr. Tufano’s case will be in state Superior Court. It was not clear where the matter will be heard, Mercer County or Burlington County. Court records list the charges as third-degree offenses, which carry three to five years in state prison.
Mr. Tufano was scheduled to be arraigned in Princeton Municipal Court on Monday afternoon, but his defense lawyer submitted to the court a letter waiving the court appearance.
Mr. Tufano has faced legal trouble before, notably for his arrest and subsequent conviction as a teenager for the rape on campus.
He was found guilty at a jury trial in December 1989 of sexually assaulting a then-19-year-old female student in Prospect Gardens in January of that year, according to court records and news accounts back then. He was 18 at the time he committed the crime, and was sentenced in June 1990 to 10 years in state prison, although before New Jersey enacted Megan’s Law.
Mr. Tufano, however, believed that he was no longer required to register with law enforcement, according to his lawyer on Tuesday.
Defense attorney Ross Gigliotti said Tuesday that Mr. Tufano was re-sentenced in the mid-1990s under Megan’s Law. At the re-sentencing, he said Mr. Tufano was given 10 years of having to comply with the law’s requirements and then it was supposed to end.
“He thought he was done with his Megan’s Law requirements,” Mr. Gigliotti said.
