Crime & Safety
Warren County Man Snuck Into Kid's Window To Abduct, Assault Her: Affidavit
Ring camera footage captured the man carrying and dragging the girl, 6, through the neighborhood in the middle of the night, records say.
WARREN COUNTY, NJ — Additional details have been released regarding the abduction and sexual assault of a six-year-old girl in Warren County this weekend.
Lester Noe Perez-Amador, 27, of Washington Borough, faces child endangerment, sexual assault, and kidnapping charges, to name a few, following an investigation into the abduction, according to police.
Related: NJ Man Abducts, Sexually Assaults 6-Year-Old Girl, Police Say
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On Saturday, just before 3 a.m., police received a report of a missing six-year-old girl in Washington. Police say that Perez-Amador snuck into the girl’s unsecured bedroom window before covering her mouth, grabbing her, and leaving.
Doorbell camera footage from neighbors captured Perez-Amador carrying and dragging the girl through the neighborhood, specifically through the church parking lot on East Church Street, police records said.
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Perez-Amador brought the girl to train tracks, near the woods, and proceeded to sexually assault her with his fingers and penis, the affidavit reads.
Roughly an hour after she was reported missing, the six-year-old was found walking home alone, wearing nothing but a shirt and bleeding from her privates, officials said. The girl was sent to a hospital, where she required surgery, the affidavit adds.
After a 36-hour investigation, police determined Perez-Amador to be responsible, officials said. He was apprehended within the first 24 hours of the investigation, police said.
Perez-Amador was known to the victim, who referred to him as “cousin,” and sometimes “mom and dad’s friend,” police said. They had met several times before the abduction, records say.
Perez-Amador admitted to both the kidnapping and sexual assault, according to the affidavit.
Perez-Amador was initially charged with first-degree home invasion burglary and first-degree kidnapping. On Tuesday, prosecutors announced he's also been charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
“Our thoughts go out to the victim, and we wish the best to them and their family," said Washington Township Police Chief Christopher Jones. "The collaboration between multiple agencies brought this investigation to a successful conclusion, with the suspect being placed in custody within a short time period."
If convicted on either a kidnapping or sexual assault charge alone, Perez-Amador faces a maximum of life in prison.
He is being held in the Warren County Correctional Center to await court proceedings.
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