An Elizabeth high school teacher has been charged after allegedly having committed acts of sexual misconduct with a minor student over the course of several months.
Bipradas Mookerjee, 72, of North Brunswick, has been charged with third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, according to an announcement from Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel, Elizabeth Police Director Earl Graves and Elizabeth Police Chief Giacomo Sacca on Jan. 31.
In mid-January, the Elizabeth Police Department received a report of a sexual assault upon a 14-year-old female, which was referred to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Victims Unit. That investigation revealed that the alleged incidents occurred from October 2021 into January of this year, while Mookerjee worked as a math teacher at Frank J. Cicarell Academy in Elizabeth, according to Unit Supervisor and Assistant Prosecutor Caroline Lawlor, who is prosecuting the case.
The victim was a student at the school during the period of the alleged criminal acts, Lawlor said in the statement.
Mookerjee was arrested without incident on Jan. 25 and lodged in the Union County Jail, according to the statement. He was subsequently released after a pretrial detention hearing in Union County Superior Court, and is currently on supervised release awaiting his next court appearance.
Anyone with information about Mookerjee is urged to contact Elizabeth Police Officer Johanna Rivera of the Special Victims Unit at 908–348-0999.
Convictions on third-degree criminal charges are commonly punishable by 3-5 years in state prison, according to the statement.