TRENTON — A man who was extradited by U.S. Marshals from Guatemala last week was charged in the 2006 sexual assault of his niece in Lawrence Township and ordered held without bail today. Pablo Lopez, 39, a Guatemalan native, faces four counts of sexual assault. At the hearing, Mercer County Superior Court Judge Council said bail was denied because the...
TRENTON — A man who was extradited by U.S. Marshals from Guatemala last week was charged in the 2006 sexual assault of his niece in Lawrence Township and ordered held without bail today.
Pablo Lopez, 39, a Guatemalan native, faces four counts of sexual assault.
At the hearing, Mercer County Superior Court Judge Council said bail was denied because the state had gone to such lengths to bring Lopez back.
“These are some pretty serious charges,” Council said. “He will be held without bail, because we had to go to Guatemala to extradite him.”
According to Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor John Carbonara, the victim, who was identified only as J.V., is in the United States and is willing to testify against her uncle. Her mother contacted police in August 2006 after her daughter told her about the incidents. That’s when it was discovered that Lopez had left the country, Carbonara said. It was years before Lopez was located at the home of a relative in Guatemala, he said.
J.V. alleged that there were two separate incidents, and Lopez is being charged with two counts sexual assault for each alleged occurrence, Carbonara said.
According to Carbonara, Lopez was involved in another sexual assault case in 2005 involving a juvenile co-worker at a deli.
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