FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Caitlin Mota
PHONE: (201) 577-6699
EMAIL: cmota@hcpo.org
DATE: Monday, July 17, 2023

MAN CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ASSAULTING WOMAN IN JERSEY CITY

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:

On Friday, July 14, 2023, members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit arrested Vernard Doe, 43, on multiple sex crime charges involving a 29-year-old female. The crimes occurred on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 inside of a building on Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City. The defendant was familiar with the victim.

Doe, of Jersey City, is charged with Aggravated Sexual Assault on a Physically Helpless Person in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2a(7), a crime of the first degree; Aggravated Assault in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b, a crime of the second degree; Sexual Assault by Force or Coercion in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2c(1), a crime of the second degree; and Aggravated Sexual Assault During the Commission of an Aggravated Assault in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2a(3), a crime of the first degree. He was arrested at the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office in Secaucus and transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility pending his first court appearance. The State has filed a Detention Motion, which is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, July 19, 2023.

Prosecutor Suarez credited the Special Victims Unit with the investigation and arrest, with assistance from the Jersey City Police Department. 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).