Suspect arrested in sexual assaults at parks in Somerset County
SOMERVILLE – A Raritan Borough man was arrested and charged with sexual assaults in Duke Island Park in Bridgewater and on a trail near Blackwells Mills and Canal roads in Franklin, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office announced.
Rogelio Calyeca Postrero, 38, also was charged with lewdness for allegedly masturbating in public in the area of the Nevius Street Bridge in Raritan Borough.
Postrero also was charged with knowingly exhibiting false documents in Branchburg on Dec. 20, 2021. Superior Court Judge Peter Tober ordered Postrero kept in the Somerset County Jail pending trial.
Somerset County First Assistant Prosecutor Annemarie L. Mueller announced Postrero's arrest on the first-degree aggravated sexual assault charges in the high-profile incidents dating to 2021 at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. First-degree charges carry a minimum 10-year state prison sentence.
Mueller said the prosecutor's office was working with the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office to determine if Postero was responsible for another sexual assault in Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park in South Brunswick in September 2021.
At approximately 9:07 p.m. July 18, 2021, Mueller said, Bridgewater police received a 911 call reporting a sexual assault in Duke Island Park. Officers met with a woman, a resident of a nearby town, who reported being sexually assaulted by an unknown man while riding her bike in the park.
The woman reported that the man came up behind her, held a knife to her throat and asked for her money, Mueller said. After handing over $20, the woman reported that the man sexually assaulted her in the nearby bushes and then fled the area on his bicycle toward Raritan.
The woman described the suspect as approximately 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-6 between 151 and 175 pounds with a medium to stocky build, Mueller said. The man was reported to be in his 30s with short black hair wearing a black hood and dark pants.
Ten months later, on May 16, at approximately 6:03 p.m., Mueller said, Franklin police responded to a 911 call reporting a sexual assault on a park trail near Blackwells Mills Road and Canal Road. Upon arrival, officers met with a woman who reported being assaulted by an unknown man on the trail.
The woman reported the man got off his bicycle and tackled her to the ground when she was running on the trail, Mueller said.
The woman fought with the man as he attempted to sexually assault her, Mueller said. The woman was able to fight her attacker and escape the assault, immediately notifying authorities by dialing 911.
The woman described the suspect as approximately 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-7 with a heavier build, approximately mid-30s, wearing black pants or shorts, a green hooded sweatshirt and a blue gator face covering.
The suspect is said to have fled the area on his bicycle, Mueller said, and the woman was taken to an area hospital for treatment and released.
Investigators got a break in the case on Aug. 4 at about 9:06 a.m. when Raritan Borough police received a 911 call reporting a man in the area of the Nevius Street Bridge possibly masturbating in public.
Upon arrival, officers made contact with Postrero, who matched the description provided by the 911 caller, Mueller said. Police contacted detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit who responded to investigate.
Postrero was arrested and charged with lewdness, a disorderly person’s offense. During the investigation, detectives determined that Postrero was using fraudulent identification for employment purposes in Somerset County, Mueller said.
Detectives further determined Postrero resembled both the New Jersey State Police composite sketch and the description provided by the women in the two previous sexual assaults, Mueller said.
Police executed a search warrant at Postrero’s home and found a bicycle that matched the description of the bike in the Franklin assault, Mueller added.
In addition, forensic analysis confirmed that Postrero’s DNA matched the profile obtained from the Bridgewater assault, the prosecutor said.
Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald thanked all the local and state agencies involved in the investigation, including the police departments from Raritan Borough, Bridgewater, Franklin, the New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Sciences Central Regional Laboratory, the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI.
The prosecutor also thanked the private citizen who notified Raritan Borough police of the alleged act of lewdness which led authorities to Postrero.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Sexual assaults at parks in Somerset County: Suspect arrested
