By JAIMIE JULIA WINTERS
winters@montclairlocal.news
A Jersey City man has been arrested after sexually assaulting a 13-year-old Montclair girl, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Steffon Fowler, 24, was arrested without incident after surrendering himself at the prosecutor’s office in Jersey City Tuesday, Aug. 17, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said in a press release.
On Jan. 17, members of the prosecutor’s office’s Special Victims Unit were notified by the Jersey City Police Department about an alleged sexual assault of a Montclair girl by a man she met on social media. Following an investigation by the SVU, Fowler was later identified. The sexual assault occurred at Fowler’s residence on Arlington Avenue in Jersey City, Suarez wrote.
The release didn’t say how police became aware of the incident, or how Fowler was identified.
Fowler has been charged with one count of sexual assault, a second-degree crime; one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a third-degree crime; and one count of criminal sexual contact, a fourth-degree crime, according to the press release.
After his arrest, Fowler was transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny pending his first appearance in court.
Suarez credited the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit with the investigation and arrest.
The prosecutor’s office said anyone wishing to report a sex crime should call its Special Victims Unit at 201-915-1234.