The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A 22-year-old California man is awaiting extradition to Somerset County after having been arrested for sexual assault on a minor.
The alleged victim, a 14-year-old Somerset County girl, told detectives that she had sexual intercourse with the man on two occasions when he visited her in December 2020, according to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the release, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Unit on January 4 received a Cybertipline report indicating that a 22-year-old male was having an online relationship with a female minor and traveled from California to New Jersey to meet with the child victim.
Prosecutor’s detectives traveled to Stocktonn, California and arrested the man on February 17, according to the release.
The man was charged with 2nd Degree Sexual Assault and 3rd Degree Endangering the Welfare of a Minor, according to the release.
The man is currently lodged in the San Joaquin County Jail where he will remain lodged pending extradition proceedings, the release said.
In the release, Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson thanked DA Inspector Gus Galindo and members of the Alameda County SAFE Task Force (Sex and Felony Enforcement Team), Sergeant Mike Delaray and members of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Transit Crimes Unit as well as members of the Stockton Police Department for their assistance in this investigation.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office at (908) 231-7100 or the Franklin Township Police Department at (732) 873-5533 or via the STOPit app. The STOPit app allows citizens to provide anonymous reports including videos and photos. STOPit can be downloaded to your smart phone for free at the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, access code: SOMERSETNJ. Information can also be provided through the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477). All anonymous STOPit reports and Crime Stopper tips will be kept confidential.
