A resident of Eatontown has been charged with luring two 13-year-old girls into his vehicle with the purpose of allegedly sexually assaulting them, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced on Feb. 18
Gramiccioni said Nathan Cohen, 27, has been charged with first degree kidnapping, second degree child luring, third degree endangering the welfare of a child, third degree possession of child pornography and third degree aggravated criminal sexual contact.
According to the prosecutor, the charges stem from an incident which occurred during the early morning hours of Feb. 15 when Sea Bright police officers located a running vehicle parked on a dead end street in the borough. A police officer then witnessed Cohen in the back seat of his vehicle with his arms around the two juveniles.
Further investigation revealed that Cohen allegedly represented himself to be a 17-year-old boy to the juveniles and exchanged sexually explicit images and videos with them, and arranged to see the juveniles in person, according to the prosecutor.
The case was investigated by members of the Sea Bright Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Bureau.
Cohen was taken into custody at the scene of the incident in Sea Bright and was later transported to the Monmouth County jail, Freehold Township, pending a detention hearing.
If convicted, Cohen is facing up to life imprisonment on the kidnapping charge, up to 10 years imprisonment on the child luring charge, and up to five years imprisonment on the endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated criminal sexual contact and possession of child pornography charges, respectively.
In addition, he would be subject to parole supervision for life and required to register under Megan’s Law.
Investigators are seeking additional information about Cohen’s activities. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Detective Michelle Tucker of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Bureau at 800-533-7443, or Sea Bright Police Department Detective Sgt. Richard Huegel at 732-842-0010.
The case has been assigned to Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Ryan Lavender of the office’s Special Victims Bureau, according to a press release from Gramiccioni’s office.