Boro man, 18, charged in rape
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

SOUTH RIVER - An 18-year-old borough man has been charged in the June rape of an elderly woman who was his next-door neighbor.

Jason Jimenez was arrested Sept. 7 in the sexual assault, which took place June 8 at the woman's Stanton Street home. Authorities said the suspect entered the woman's home around midnight through a rear basement door and brandished a knife during the rape. He then stole money and jewelry before leaving the home, police said.

Police were called to the home at 7 a.m. that day, after the woman alerted a family member about the incident.

Jimenez was arrested after lab results of DNA analysis led to probable cause, along with other investigative work, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, which conducted a joint investigation with the South River Police Department.

The officers who worked on the case include detectives John McKenna and Mark Tinitigan of the South River Police Department, and Investigator Deborah Tornquist and Sgt. Christopher Penna of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.

Jimenez was charged with aggravated sexual assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in the third degree, unlawful possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, second-degree burglary, first-degree armed robbery and first-degree kidnapping.

Jimenez, reportedly a neighbor of the victim, is being held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick. Superior Court Judge Joseph Rea set his bail at $500,000, with no 10 percent option.