NJ man charged with sexual assaults of 2 boys in church bathroom

🚨 68-year-old man charged with sexual assault

🚨 Accused of following young boys into church bathroom

🚨 Victims are ages 7 and 9, prosecutors say

NORTH PLAINFIELD — A member of a local church has been charged with following young boys into the bathroom to touch them, according to authorities.

Pierre Joseph, 68, of Plainfield was arrested last month, the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office announced on Friday.

He's charged with two counts each of second-degree sexual assault and third-degree child endangerment.

According to county Prosecutor John McDonald, two boys reported to their church that they had been touched in a North Plainfield church bathroom in separate incidents.

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A seven-year-old boy told another person at the church on Sunday, June 23 that he had been assaulted in the bathroom, McDonald said. That person then informed the church pastor.

North Plainfield police responded to a call from the church around 4:30 p.m. that day reporting the incident.

Joseph had been detained at the church before police arrived and was taken in for questioning by police, McDonald said.

Detectives with the SCPO also interviewed the boy, who said that Joseph had followed him into the bathroom and pulled down his pants and underwear to touch him, according to McDonald.

Investigators later found that a nine-year-old boy made a similar report earlier about being assaulted in the church bathroom this year, McDonald said.

Joseph was arrested that same Sunday. He is being held at Somerset County Jail.

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