Joseph Centanni, 75, of Mountainside, is charged in a 42-count indictment listing 23 counts of second-degree sexual assault and 19 counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel, Elizabeth Police Director Earl Graves and Elizabeth Police Chief Giacomo Sacca said in a joint statement.Centanni, the former owner of hundreds of rental units across 18 residential properties, “targeted tenants or prospective tenants who were homeless, about to be evicted, or otherwise struggling financially,” authorities said.In December 2021, the Justice Department announced that Centanni had agreed to pay a historic $4.5 million settlement to resolve a Fair Housing Act lawsuit seeking to protect tenants from harassment and discrimination.The settlement, which federal prosecutors said at the time still had to be approved by the U.S. District Court for New Jersey, “is the largest monetary settlement the department has ever obtained in a case alleging sexual harassment in housing,” the Justice Department said.Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, Centanni would pay $4,392,950 in damages to tenants and prospective tenants “harmed by his harassment,” authorities said."