Borough man facing prison

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Apolinar Jimenez
Apolinar Jimenez

WATERBURY — A Naugatuck man will be sentenced to a decade in prison after he pleaded guilty Wednesday to molesting multiple children.

Apolinar Jimenez pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a child in connection with a pattern of sexual abuse of three young girls.

City police arrested Jimenez in June based on the girls’ statements.

Jimenez was suspected of groping and molesting the girls starting when they were 8, 6 and 15 years old, according to State’s Attorney Maureen Platt. The abuse began in 2005.

Jimenez’s attorney, William Gerace, had tried to negotiate a reduction of the charges, but Platt said she wouldn’t reduce the counts of sexual assaults to lesser charges due to the strength of the case against Jimenez.

Platt said Jimenez confessed to police that he molested the girls in a videotaped interview. The girls felt violated and wanted Jimenez to serve prison time, she said.

Jimenez, 49, will have to register as a sex offender when he’s released from prison. He’ll also have to serve 10 years of special parole and may be deported to his native Dominican Republic.

Jimenez, who is free on bonds totaling $160,000, is expected to be sentenced on April 17.