Man Found Guilty Of Groping Edison Woman On Playground

EDISON, NJ — A Middlesex County grand jury found this man guilty on Tuesday, Jan. 2 after a woman said he inappropriately touched her on an Edison playground last summer.

The 32-year-old woman said he improperly touched her at a playground in an unnamed Edison apartment complex on August 25, 2016. Thomas Canales, 39, of Somerset, was charged with criminal sexual contact.

But it was not just the Edison incident: That same jury found Canales guilty Tuesday of a slew of other sexual assault charges, most of them involving children.

Canales worked out of his home as a computer repairman, and even served as a volunteer firefighter and fire commissioner in Franklin Township. Prosecutors say he sexually assaulted four victims, three of whom were children, in towns ranging from Edison to Highland Park, New Brunswick and North Brunswick.

Canales' computer repair company was called “Scope It Out," which he ran from his home in the Somerset section of Franklin. He is still facing criminal charges in a case in which prosecutors say he installed a surveillance system in a client’s home and then watched activities in the home through his computer and cell phone.

In addition to the Edison woman, prosecutors say that Canales exposed himself to a seven-year-old girl in New Brunswick on July 3, 2016. He was also charged with exposing himself to an 11-year-old girl in North Brunswick on April 19, 2016 and improperly touching a 11-year-old girl in Highland Park on August 28, 2016.

He has been charged with sexually assaulting children before, but was acquitted: In 2013, Canales was charged with sexually assaulting two young girls over a five-year period. One of the girls said the abuse started at a camp ground in New York when she was 10 years old. At one point when she was visiting his home in Franklin Township, she said she wasn’t feeling well and Canales offered her cough syrup, NJ.com reported.

When she became drowsy and was drifting in and out of consciousness, Canales sexually assaulted her, she said.

However, in January of 2016, a jury found him not guilty in those two instances. Canales and his wife, Teresa, wept in court that day.

"I'm completely thrilled and thankful to the jurors, who did the right thing," his defense attorney, James Wronko, told NJ.com when his client was found not guilty. "I'm also saddened Mr. Canales had to be put through this. I can give him his freedom, I can give him back his good name, but I can't give him back what he and his family has endured since September 2013 when these allegations were made. It took part of his heart out. I can't fix that."

However, Canales was arrested anew later that same year, after more victims came forward with new allegations. Less than a year after he was acquitted, he was arrested again on Sept. 1, 2016 at his home in Somerset. This time, a jury found him guilty of seven criminal counts, including three counts of sexual assault in the second degree, three counts of endangering the welfare of a child in the third degree, and one count of sexual contact in the fourth degree.

Canales is facing a prison term of up to 31 and a half years when he is sentenced in New Brunswick on May 11. He will have to register as a Megan’s Law sex offender and also be placed on Parole Supervision for Life upon his release from prison.

Canales served as a commissioner for the volunteer Franklin Township Fire District 3 between 2011 and 2012.

Photo of Canales provided by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office