The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A 40-year-old Edgewater Park man remained in custody March 9 after his arrest for allegedly repeatedly sexually assaulting a township woman over 12 hours earlier this month.
Police said the victim, who had been in a romantic relationship with the man that ended in 2024, had a conversation with the man earlier in the night of March 3, during which he said he was going to visit her.
The victim told him not to, but the man showed up at her house at about 3 a.m. March 3, according to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
The victim told police that she turned down an initial sexual approach from the man, resulting in him retrieving a knife in the house and threatening her.
The man repeatedly sexually assaulted her over the next 12 hours, when he left at 3 p.m., according to the release. She said she made several unsuccessful attempts to alert her neighbors during that time.
The victim notified police at about 4:20 p.m., according to the release.
Police obtained a search warrant for the man’s Edgewater Park home on March 4, and arrested him without incident, according to the release.
The man was charged with 1st Degree Sexual Assault, 1st Degree Kidnapping, 2nd Degree Strangulation, 3rd Degree Terroristic Threats, two counts of 3rd Degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, and two counts of 4th Degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon.
The man remains in Morris County Jail, Morristown, according to court records.
Detectives from the Franklin Township Police Department and detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victim’s Unit investigated the incident, with assistance from members of the Willingboro Township Police Department, Edgewater Park Township Police Department, and members of the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
Anyone with information relating to this incident is asked to to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victim’s Unit 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 Somerset County Communication at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477) or through the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office website at SCPO.TIPS. All anonymous STOPit reports and tips will be kept confidential.
