Crime & Safety
Former Hoboken Farmboy Owner Accused of Groping Teen
Raman Sharma, who owned Hoboken health food shop Hoboken Farmboy, is accused of inappropriately touching a teenage girl inside his Staten Island shop, Tastebud's Natural Market.
A Hoboken resident whose popular Washington Street health food store closed at the beginning of last year is accused of forcing himself on a 14-year-old girl inside the health food market he still operates in Staten Island, the Staten Island Advance reported.
Raman Sharma, 62, allegedly inappropriately touched the girl who works with her sisters in his Staten Island shop, Tastebud's Natural Food Market, on the afternoon of June 22, police said. The store owner allegedly kissed the 14-year-old's face and neck, rubbed her back and squeezed her buttocks, according to an SILive.com report.
Sharma, who was arrested Friday and charged with forcible touching, endangering the welfare of a child, third-degree sexual abuse and second-degree harassment — all misdemeanors — previously owned Hoboken Farmboy, a health food mainstay in the Mile Square City for nearly 30 years that closed its doors at the end of 2011.
He denies the abuse allegations and claims he was never alone with the alleged victim for more than a couple minutes, SILive.com reported.
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