A convicted Megan's Law sex offender has been jailed in the sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl inside his Egg Harbor City home.
Jose A. Rodriguez, 69, is accused of touching the girl's private areas with a handheld massage device after taking her shopping at Walmart on Tuesday.
He allegedly then gave the girl money and presents in an attempt to get her not to tell anyone what happened.
The girl was picked up by Rodriguez at her Hammonton home and took her to Walmart, but then took her back to his house, where he had her remove her clothing and then assaulted her while she was in just her underwear and a long T-shirt, according to the affidavit of probable cause obtained by BreakingAC.
The girl told her mother later that night, and the mother notified police.
A search of Rodriguez's home located the handheld massaging device, the affidavit states..
Rodriguez is a Tier 2 Megan's Law sex offender with lifetime supervision and, under those terms, is not allowed to be with a minor unsupervised, according to the affidavit.
No information on that crime was available.
Rodriguez does not appear to be publicly registered. There is no registration online for a sex offender living at 713 Cincinnati Ave., which is just about a tenth of a mile from the Charles Spragg Elementary School. Rodriguez is listed as the owner of the home in property records.
A search of the public database does not list him anywhere among the 16 registered sex offenders living in Egg Harbor City.
He was arrested by Detective Rich Brown with the help of the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office and is charged with sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and violation of his parole supervision.
He is currently in the Atlantic County Justice Facility pending a detention hearing.
