Judge continues incarceration for two teens accused of sex assault in Morristown

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Two teens accused of sexually assaulting a teenaged girl after she allegedly was rendered semi-conscious by an unknown beverage at a Morristown party last September were denied house arrest on Monday.

Calling the allegations “heinous,” Superior Court Judge Michael Paul Wright said there was probable cause to suspect the pair would pose a risk to the community–and would be at risk themselves–if they were released from detention to the custody of their parents while the case is prosecuted.

The teenaged defendants cannot be publicly identified because they, like their alleged victim, were 17 at the time of the alleged assaults.

A third person, Tyrec Phillips, 19, of Morristown, faces a sexual assault charge as an adult in this case.

Employees return to the Morris County Courthouse on Tuesday morning after a smoky attic fire was extinguished. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
The Morris County Courthouse, where two teens accused of rape were denied house arrest on Monday. File photo from 2011. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

The two teens being tried as juveniles were led into the Morristown courtroom in handcuffs and ankle shackles, wearing prison jumpsuits, as their parents watched from the front row.

Public defenders representing the teens said the two youths had hoped to start college this week. The lawyers said their clients have had no scrapes with the law since the alleged crime–which the victim did not report to authorities until May.

“It’s still up in the air whether or not (the sex was) consensual,” Public Defender Leigh Gilsenan told the judge.

Similarly, Public Defender Patricia Kay questioned the interpretation of an intercepted phone call in which one teen allegedly acknowledged to the victim that he and others had sexually assaulted her as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

“Indicating they had sexual relations with this woman is not necessarily a crime. She was clearly of age and so were these men,” said the public defender.  Patricia and Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Samantha DeNegri both said they had not yet personally seen or heard DVD recordings of the phone conversation.

But Samantha said the victim’s delay in reporting the assaults does not diminish the severity of the crime.

“This is a young woman who allegedly was raped by three young men. I’m sure there was embarrassment and fear of retaliation” that made the victim reluctant to press charges, said the assistant prosecutor, adding that the teens also gave incriminating statements to investigators.

“If the facts are borne out, this could hardly be considered a consensual sex. I find the alleged act is one of heinous proportion,” said Judge Wright, who set a Sept. 24 hearing date for one of the juveniles.

That date will mark exactly one year since the alleged assault, which occurred inside a vehicle after a party on Hazel Street , according to the Daily Record.

 

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