FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, NJ (Somerset County) – A Somerset County man has been arrested in relation to an aggravated sexual assault which occurred in Franklin Township earlier this month, according to Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald.
Mateo Espinal-Brito, 42, of Franklin Township was charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault, and second-degree aggravated assault-strangulation, McDonald said.
On Monday, Sept. 11, at around 5:00 a.m., the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes/Child Abuse Unit was notified by the Franklin Township Police Department of a report that an adult female victim was sexually assaulted by Espinal-Brito, who is known to her, McDonald said.
The victim disclosed being sexually assaulted and physically assaulted by Espinal-Brito in the early morning hours of Monday, September 11. An investigation was conducted by detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes/Child Abuse Unit and detectives from the Franklin Township Police Department, McDonald said.
Espinal-Brito was arrested on Sept. 11 and then lodged in the Somerset County Jail pending a detention hearing, McDonald said.
