Arrested Monday for the 169th time, a 60-year-old Brooklyn man has been charged with engaging in criminal sexual contact with two women on PATH trains in the past several weeks, Port Authority Police said today.

Police were able to collar Gian Verdelli, a registered sex offender in New York, because the fast-thinking Jersey City woman he allegedly molested on June 30 snapped his photo with her cellphone, Port Authority spokeswoman Jackie Yodashkin said.

Verdelli was wearing the same clothing when Port Authority plainclothes officers detained him yesterday morning as he attempted to board a PATH train at Grove Street going to 33rd Street, Yodashkin said.

?The suspect gave a video statement to police stating ?It could have been me,?? Yodashkin said.

Verdelli was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact, a fourth-degree offense, that carries up to 18 months in prison on each charge.

When he was busted Monday, Verdelli was also charged with possession of marijuana under 50 grams and possession of drug paraphernalia, officials said.
The other incident he was charged in yesteday occurred July 3.

Verdelli has been arrested 168 other times, the first arrest dating to 1970, Yodashkin said.

Authorities said the majority of Verdelli?s arrests were in connection with minor offenses, often involving transit systems, including trespassing or drug possession.

Most were misdemeanors in New York state or disorderly persons offenses in New Jersey, which typically carry little, if any, jail time ? even for repeat offenders.

For example, in September Verdelli pleaded guilty to theft of services after jumping a subway turnstile and served 10 days in jail, said a spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney?s Office, which prosecuted that case and several others against Verdelli.

He was convicted on Jan. 10, 2011, of ?forcible touching? of a female in New York and was sentenced to 200 days in a local jail, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

That conviction led to him being listed as a registered sex offender, said Yodashkin.
Verdelli was remanded to the Hudson County jail in Kearny in lieu of $20,000 bail, officials said.

Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said his office would be in contact with New York City prosecutors about yesterday?s arrest, in the event a conviction on the PATH groping charges constitutes an additional violation under Verdelli?s sex offender status.

?We?ll make an effort to make sure he?s isolated from society for a longer period for time,? he said.
JJ