| NEWS RELEASE |
| OFFICE OF THE ESSEX COUNTY PROSECUTOR |
| PAULA T. DOW, Essex County Prosecutor |
| | For Immediate Release | | Tuesday, March 11, 2008 |
| |
| 16-Year-Old Female Student Sexually Assaulted in Montclair |
| |
| Essex County Prosecutor Paula T. Dow and Montclair Police Chief David Sabagh today announced the arrests of |
| two Montclair teenaged boys in connection with an alleged sexual assault of a 16-year-old female student last |
| Thursday afternoon. A third teenaged boy, also age 16, allegedly associated with the crime, who was at large, |
| turned himself in this afternoon. |
| |
| Romal Roberts, 18, of Montclair, was arrested at his home early Saturday morning by detectives from the Montclair |
| Police Department and Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and was charged with 18 counts of first-degree aggravated |
| sexual assault. He is currently being held in the Essex County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. In addition, a 16-year- |
| old juvenile male was also arrested at his home that same morning and charged with similar offenses. He is currently |
| being held at an Essex County youth house. |
| |
| According to Essex County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Robert Laurino, on Thursday, March 6, between 11:30 a.m. |
| and 4:30 p.m., several teenagers had assembled at Roberts’ unsupervised Hartley Street home in Montclair. |
| Allegedly, three of the boys at the gathering compelled the victim to perform sex on them and then proceeded to use |
| force and sexually assaulted her. Detectives learned about the incident after the victim’s girlfriend notified school |
| counselors at Montclair High School the following day. School officials immediately contacted Montclair Police |
| Department and representatives from the State Division of Youth and Family Services. Montclair PD, in turn, |
| contacted the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and a joint investigation was launched. The victim was treated at a |
| local hospital where she was examined by a sexual assault nurse examiner. Detectives recovered evidence from the |
| crime scene. The investigation remains ongoing. |
| |
| Prosecutor Dow and Chief Sabagh urged anyone with any information about this case to contact detectives from the |
| Essex County Child Abuse Unit at (973) 753-1130 or Montclair Police Department at (973) 744-1234. |
| |
| Dow and Sabagh commended detectives from both agencies along with the New Jersey Regional Computer Forensic |
| Laboratory, DYFS and Montclair High School officials with the investigation. |
| |
| These criminal charges are mere accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of |
| law. |
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
| CONTACT: | PAUL M. LORIQUET, Press Secretary | (973) 621-4021 |
| | Essex County Prosecutor's Office | (973) 621-4700 |
| | Essex County Courts Building |
| | Newark, New Jersey 07102 |