HUDSON COUNTY COUPLE ARRESTED ATTEMPTING TO ENTER CANADA WITH DAUGHTER DESPITE NO-CONTACT ORDER IN PLACE AGAINST THE DAD WHO WAS CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT OF CHILD IN FEBRUARY

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:

On Monday, October 11, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents detained a Hudson County couple who attempted to enter Canada with their minor child, despite there being a no-contact order in place against the dad after he was arrested earlier this year for sexual assault of the girl when she was seven years old.

The defendants, whose names are not being released to protect the identity of the victim, have both been charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4A(2), a crime of the second degree.  The father, a resident of Harrison, was additionally charged with Disobeying a Judicial Order in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:29-9A, a crime of the fourth degree.

On February 5, 2021, the victim’s father was charged with Sexual Assault in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2B, a crime of the second degree and Endangering the Welfare of a Child in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4a(1), a crime of the third degree, after the child, now 12, reported to Kearny Police that her father had sexually assaulted her when she was seven years old. The case is currently pending in Hudson County Superior Court.

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 defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. R.P.C.3.6(b)(6).