An 18-year-old Hightstown man is facing charges of aggravated sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact and other offenses for allegedly sexually assaulting one woman and touching another woman inappropriately in separate incidents in Hightstown Borough, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and the Hightstown Police Department.
Christian Arevalo was identified as a suspect in incidents that occurred on Aug. 12 and Sept. 11 through surveillance videos that were released to the public by the MCPO. Detectives received several anonymous tips that led to Arevalo’s arrest on Sept. 23 at the Prosecutor’s Office.
The MCPO has filed a motion to detain Arevalo, pending trial.
Arevalo was charged with one count each of criminal restraint, aggravated criminal sexual contact, criminal sexual contact, harassment by unlawful touching and criminal trespassing in the Aug. 12 incident, officials said.
In that incident, Arevalo approached a Hightstown woman on North Main Street at about 9:40 p.m. He allegedly touched her inappropriately and fled when the woman yelled. She reported the incident to the Hightstown Police Department.
In the second incident that occurred on Sept. 11, Arevalo was charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault, two counts of sexual assault and one count of criminal restraint.
A 34-year-old woman told police that she was walking in the area of Park Way and Rogers Avenue at around 8 p.m. when she was approached from behind by a man and physically and sexually assaulted.
Mercer County Prosecutor Janetta D. Marbrey thanked the public for contacting police with information that led to Arevalo’s identification and arrest.
“This arrest demonstrates the importance of community cooperation. You may think the information you have to offer is insignificant, but sometimes it is enough to give investigators the piece they need to solve the puzzle,” Marbrey said.
Marbrey thanked the Hightstown and East Windsor police departments, as well as the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Victims Unit. The MCPO Special Victims Unit detectives conducted an extensive and methodical review of the surveillance videos and worked around the clock to solve the cases, she said.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information or who has had a similar encounter is asked to call SVU Sgt. Sherika Salmon at 609-960-3119 or Detective Natalie Martinez at 609-331-4318. Anonymous tips can be submitted online at mercercountyprosecutor.com/tips.
