Montclair Teen Indicted In Sexual Assault Case

A Grand Jury has indicted a Montclair teenager for allegedly committing acts of sexual assault against a 16-year-old female last March.

From Essex County Prosecutor's office:

Romal Roberts, 18, was charged with 12 counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault. He remains in the Essex County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. If convicted of the charges, he faces up to 20 years in State Prison. The grand jury did not return indictments against two other boys, who allegedly were present at the time of the attack and were initially arrested and charged with similar offenses.

According to Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Ali, Director of the Child Abuse Unit, on 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, Roberts had compelled the victim to perform sex on him 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 (DYFS). 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.

Dow commended detectives from both agencies along with the New Jersey Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory, DYFS and Montclair High School officials with the investigation.