FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Caitlin Mota
PHONE: (201) 577-6699
EMAIL: cmota@hcpo.org
DATE: Thursday, October 6, 2022

HIGH SCHOOL DEAN OF SENIORS CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED LURING

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:

On Thursday, October 6, 2022, members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit and the Harrison Police Department arrested a high school dean of seniors after being notified of an attempted luring incident.

Didier Jean-Baptiste, 54, of Jersey City, is charged with one count of Luring by Attempt in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:13-6a, a crime of the second degree, and Attempted Endangering the Welfare of a Child in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:5-1 and 2C:24-4a(1), a crime of the third degree. He was arrested without incident at his residence in Jersey City, transported to the Harrison Police Department, and released on a summons based on the recommendation of a risk assessment tool, in accordance with Criminal Justice Reform. Jean-Baptiste is tentatively scheduled to appear in court on Monday, October 24, 2022.

The investigation determined Jean-Baptiste, a dean at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, arranged to meet an individual, who he believed to be a teenager, for sex in Harrison. The crimes did not involve any students. Anyone wishing to report a sex crime should call the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit (SVU) at 201-915-1234. The above charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. R.P.C.3.6(b)(6).