Seaside Heights Child Assault Defendant Convicted

A Seaside Heights 37-year-old will undergo psychological evaluations before he's sentenced for the sexual assault of two preteens in the summer of 2012.

Richard James Yhlen was convicted Wednesday on two counts each of aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, according to information from the office of Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato. He was found not guilty of resisting arrest.

Following a trial that began February 3, the jury returned its verdict in an hour, authorities said.

Yhlen was accused of inappropriate conduct with two children, five and seven years of age at the time, in Seaside Heights from April 2012 until the end of August that year. He's been incarcerated since his arrest on August 31, 2012, authorities said.

The children testified along with their mother, Seaside Heights Police Officer Edward Pasieka and Detective Elijah Bryant, Forensic Nurse Examiner Pamela Litman and Detective Lindsay Woodfield of the Prosecutor's Office.