A man accused of sexually assaulting two young girls and threatening to kill one if she told was ordered held until trial Thursday.
Norberto Gonzalez, 21, was discovered to be molesting the girls — ages 6 and 10 — after the relative he was living with in Atlantic City discovered him coming out of the 10-year-old's bedroom on May 5, Assistant Prosecutor Danielle Buckley said during a detention hearing before Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury. The little girl told her mother that Gonzalez had touched her chest, butt and genitals. He had been doing that on several occasions since January, the girl said.
After Gonzalez left the home, the girl's 12-year-old brother told his mother that he had seen the man put his penis into the 6-year-old's mouth one day when his mother had taken the other children to the dentist.
He said he didn't tell because Gonzalez had threatened to hurt him.
When asked about the incident, the 6-year-old told her mother it was true.
Gonzalez is charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He did not speak during the hearing, which was relayed to the Mexico native through a Spanish interpreter. He is in the country on a green card, Buckley said. There are currently no retainers on him, but his status could eventually be a problem, his public defender, Rochelle Rozier, told the judge.
All three children and their mother — whose name and relationship to the defendant are not being reported to protect the children's identities — gave statements to investigators, Buckley said.
In her statement, the 10-year-old said that Gonzalez had shown her a knife with a 7-inch blade, and threatened to kill her if she told.
Gonzalez also admitted to the attacks in a taped statement, Buckley said.
But Gonzalez has a limited mental capacity, which could make that tape inadmissible, Rozier said.
DeLury said there was no monetary bail or non-monetary conditions that would make his release appropriate.
He cited the danger Gonzalez poses to others, "including being a significant and severe threat to the two young victims and the child witness."
