By: Yuritza Arroyo
Passaic County authorities announced that Andres Vasquez, 25, from Belleville, has entered a guilty plea to multiple counts related to the sexual assault of a minor victim during a home invasion.
According to Clifton Police, Mr. Vasquez was arrested on June 3, 2022, after an investigation conducted by the department in conjunction with the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.
Police said on May 31, 2022, officers responded to a report of a home invasion and sexual assault on a minor child.
Thereafter, the Clifton Police Department collected evidence and interviewed the victim and witnesses.
The investigation revealed that Mr. Vasquez climbed through the window of the victim’s bedroom then strangled and sexually assaulted the victim.
On June 2, Mr. Vasquez pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated sexual assault and to third-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
In exchange for Mr. Vasquez’s guilty pleas, the State has agreed to recommend a ten-year sentence with an eighty-five percent period of parole ineligibility consecutive to a flat five-year term for an aggregate term of fifteen years in New Jersey State Prison.
Mr. Vasquez will be required to submit to an evaluation as to the nature of his sexual conduct at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel.
He will also be subject to Parole Supervision for Life and Megan’s Law registration requirements upon release from incarceration.
After being placed under oath, Mr. Vasquez admitted that on May 31, 2022, in the City of Clifton, he climbed through the window of the child victim’s bedroom in the middle of the night.
Mr. Vasquez admitted that he did not know the victim and did not have permission to enter the home. Mr. Vasquez admitted he then strangled the victim and engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim without her consent.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 2.
Mr. Vasquez will remain detained in the Bergen County Jail while pending sentencing.