West Hazleton Man Charged With Bergen County Child Sex Crimes
Saturday, February 7, 2026, 9:15 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
WALLINGTON, NJ.- On Wednesday, following an investigation, a 43-year-old West Hazleton, Pennsylvania, man was taken and jailed after surrendering himself to Detectives at the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office after being charged in connection with luring a Wallington, New Jersey, child and posing as the child’s father.
According to Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella, on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, the Wallington Police Department contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit regarding an allegation of the sexual assault of a child.
During the ensuing investigation, Detectives of the Bergen County Special Victims Unit, in conjunction with the Wallington Police Department, uncovered that on April 30, 2025, Erickson Ledesma, 43, of West Hazleton, Pennsylvania, lured a juvenile into his vehicle and committed a criminal sexual act on the child. Detectives also uncovered that Ledesma committed criminal sexual contact with the child, identified himself to a business establishment as the child’s father, endangering the child who was between the ages of thirteen and sixteen in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, between April 30, 2025, and May 1, 2025, and again identified himself as the child’s father at a location in Guttenberg, New Jersey on May 1, 2025.
Accordingly, Ledesma was formally charged with second-degree Child Luring; two counts of third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child; fourth-degree Criminal Sexual Contact; and two counts of fourth-degree Impersonation.
Following a months-long manhunt, on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, Ledesman surrendered himself at the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, where he was processed on the charges and remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending future court proceedings in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack, New Jersey.
“The rules of the court require us to include a statement that states: The charges outlined in this publication are merely accusations, and the defendant and or defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”
