NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Jersey City, NJ, September 30, 2025: A Hudson County jury has found Apparao Sunkara, 72, of Hicksville, New York, guilty of sexual assault by contact, endangering the welfare of a child, and official misconduct, following a multi-week trial before Superior Court Judge Nesle A. Rodriguez. All three offenses are second-degree crimes under New Jersey law.
According to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, the case stemmed from incidents that took place between September 2019 and January 2020, when Sunkara was employed as a teacher at Infinity Institute, a public magnet school in Jersey City. Prosecutors alleged that Sunkara engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with a 12-year-old female student during this period.
A jury returned a guilty verdict on September 18, 2025.
“This verdict underscores our commitment to protecting children from those who exploit positions of trust,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement following the conviction.
The offenses carry significant penalties. Under New Jersey’s sentencing guidelines, second-degree crimes are punishable by up to 10 years in state prison. Additionally, Sunkara will be required to register under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 12, 2025, in Hudson County Superior Court.
Sunkara’s arrest and prosecution followed an investigation launched in early 2021, when authorities first received complaints from students at Infinity Institute. He was charged in March 2021 with sexually assaulting an 11-year-old student in 2019. Later that year, additional charges were filed involving two more students, also related to alleged incidents that occurred on school premises.
Infinity Institute, a selective public school serving grades 6 through 12, placed Sunkara on administrative leave after the initial allegations surfaced. The Jersey City Public Schools district cooperated with the prosecutor’s office during the investigation.
Court documents indicate that the September 2025 verdict pertains specifically to one of the 2019–2020 cases involving a 12-year-old victim. The remaining charges from earlier complaints are being reviewed separately by prosecutors, and no final rulings have been issued on those counts as of this report.
Sunkara, who had been an educator for several decades, previously taught mathematics and science at various schools in New Jersey. He remained free on bond during trial but was remanded to custody following his conviction pending sentencing.
Editor’s Note: Courts reach verdicts based on the evidence before them, but the justice system, like any human institution, is not infallible. There have been instances — including well-documented cases such as those of Mahendra Patel and Sonny Bharadia — where later developments raised doubts about earlier findings.
At NRI Pulse, we are committed to fairness and transparency. We remain open to hearing from the accused or their representatives should they wish to share their perspective. They, or a family member or attorney, may contact us at editor@nripulse.com
