By Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
It only took a few moments of a parent not paying attention to their child for a 31-year-old man from Franklin Township to begin inappropriately touching the toddler at a local business.
Thanks to the attentiveness of others in the shop, David Lutz, of Whittier Avenue, in the Somerset section of Franklin Township, was taken into police custody on Thursday, May 25 and charged with second degree sexual assault (a minor less than 13 years of age) and third degree endangering welfare of a child.
According to Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson, Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of County Detectives John W. Fodor, and Franklin Township Chief of Police Lawrence Roberts, law enforcement officials were alerted to the incident at approximately 3:25 p.m.
Officials said the call came from a local business and that the caller reported that Lutz had been seen grabbing the child’s buttocks. Store employees detained Lutz until police arrived.
Following an investigation by detectives from the Franklin Township Police Department, along with detectives assigned to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Unit, officials determined that Lutz had been following the minor child throughout the store before the incident.
Only when the child’s parent was distracted, did he allegedly touch the child while it was within close proximity of its caregiver. Robertson said the touching was observed by numerous individuals within the store.
