N.J. man charged with sexual assault in East Lyme dating back to 2008

A 31-year-old Hillsborough, N.J., man was arraigned today on charges that he sexually assaulted a then-10-year-old girl while living in East Lyme in 2008.

Michael J. Michitsch is charged with first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.

State police started investigating in January, after the girl wrote a note to a friend saying she had been sexually assaulted on more than one occasion. The friend told her mother, who called the state Department of Children and Families hotline.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit prepared by state police Detective Dean A. Peluso, the girl said Michitsch, whom she knew, forced her to have sex with him and covered her mouth so she would not scream. The victim's sister told police that Michitsch also attempted to have sex with her but that she was able to stop him.

Police interviewed Michitsch, who admitted to some sexual acts with the girl.

At his arraignment today in New London Superior Court, Judge Kevin P. McMahon ordered Michitsch held in lieu of $200,000. The case was transferred to the court where major crimes are heard and continued to June 19.