By elaine van develde
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN — Police apprehended an alleged sexual offender who initiated contact with a 14-year-old township resident over the Internet in March.
Deepak Dhembla, 32, 10728 114th St., Queens, N.Y., was arrested on July 20 while allegedly on his way to a third encounter with the 14-year-old female victim, who lives in the Port Monmouth area of the township.
Dhembla was charged with three counts of enticing a child, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of aggravated sexual assault, Middletown police Detective Mike Cerame said. The aggravated sexual assault charge involves underage victims and penetration.
The accused was transported to Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, initially in lieu of $450,000 bail.
As of Monday, Monmouth County Undersheriff Adam Puharic said Dhembla no longer had bail listed, "which means he either paid it or the judge changed it, and he (was) still in jail on an INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) detainer."
The case’s resolution involved a months-long investigation via Net monitoring through the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Computer Crimes Unit and Middletown interrogations. Monmouth County Sex Crimes Unit Detective Natalie Zuppa also assisted in the investigation, Detective Patricia Colangelo said.
Authorities were informed of the alleged relationship between the victim and suspect from a school official who had been notified by a relative of the alleged victim, Cerame said.
The most frustrating part of the case, Colangelo said, was locking in on the identity and location of the suspect.
"It was very difficult to identify him. We (county and township investigators) had a very difficult time tracking down his name. As it turned out, the reason for that was that he is not a U.S. citizen. We only had a name, and every time we ran it or the license plate through records, it came back to no one."
Colangelo established a rapport with the victim, who had come into police headquarters in March and made a statement about the two alleged sexual assaults.
"She had allegedly started this relationship with him (Dhembla) in February," said Colangelo. "I told her that if he calls and wants to meet to set a date; then we would make our move to bring him in. I told her to put him off for about a week, so we could coordinate efforts. That’s what she did."
The alleged victim, Colangelo said, heard from the suspect on July 13, and "he wanted to meet the following Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday." "[The victim] told him no, and set up something for July 20, a week later."
The victim and police waited for the suspect July 20 at the prearranged site, Colangelo, the lead investigator on the case, said.
Dhembla allegedly attempted to flee the scene in the black Cadillac he was driving, when he saw Colangelo, she said.
Dhembla was stopped by police at the corner of York Avenue and Route 36 near the Port Monmouth Elementary School, "where he was supposed to meet her," Colangelo said.
The suspect allegedly met the girl on the Net, and is suspected of coming to the area twice to meet her outside her home, Cerame said.