A Pleasantville man who failed to register as a sex offender for 25 years was ordered held in jail last week on charges he assaulted eight boys in the past year.
Jose Castro Vega "is the reason Megan's Law exists," Assistant Prosecutor David Ruffenach told the judge during a detention hearing Thursday.
Castro Vega, now 58, is charged with the sexual assaults of eight boys so far, with "more that aren’t charged yet," Ruffenach said.
"There’s almost certainly more victims," he told the judge in arguing Castro Vega be kept in jail.
"He not only shouldn’t be released today, he should never be released," Ruffenach added.
Castro Vega was sentenced to eight years prison in 1993, for second-degree sexual assault of a minor.
That crime was "scarily identical" to his new charges, Ruffenach said. "He befriends families and takes in these young boys, becomes friends with them and then" performs sexual acts on them.
Although initial conviction predates Megan's Law by more than a year, Castro Vega was required to register as a sex offender upon his release Jan. 16, 1998.
It seems he never did.
He did have at least one short prison term in Pennsylvania and an Aug. 19, 2013 arrest in Puerto Rico, where it seems he lived for some time, according to court documents obtained by BreakingAC. It was not clear what the charges were or the outcome in the Puerto Rico case.
Six more victims were discovered during the investigation, including five who are brothers ages 8 to 14.
Their mother along with the mother of a 9-year-old boy told investigators that Castro Vega was becoming godfather of the boys and had them stay over at his home.
The boys all gave similar accounts of touching and sexual acts performed by Castro Vega, who some say gave them blue-and-white pills before bed and indicated that at least some of the assaults were while they were unconscious.
There are four cases against him to date, totaling 21 charges, including multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault, along with failure to register as a sex offender.
Detectives first confronted Castro Vega at Full Assurance Ministries in Pleasantville, although it was not clear what his position there was.
When he was informed he was the subject of a sexual assault investigation, he declined to provide a statement and said he wanted to talk to an attorney, according to one of the four affidavits of probable cause obtained by BreakingAC.
A search of his home at 1321 N. Main St. led to five bottles of hydroxyzine prescribed to Castro Vega. The blue-and-white pills are antihistamine and match those some of the boys said they were given before bed.
Castro Vega's public defender said his client has several health issues, including arthritis, high blood pressure and problems walking, and that he is on disability because he is unable to work. It was not clear how he was on that program without his history coming up.
The allegations potentially carry a life sentence, which carries the presumption of pretrial detention under bail reform. The defense was unable to overcome that burden, Judge Patricia Wild ruled, noting his failure to register for a quarter-century.
Castro Vega remains in the Atlantic County Justice Facility. The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone whose child may have interacted with Castro Vega is asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit at 609-909-7666 or go to the office's website at ACPO.Tips and provide information by filling out the form anonymously on the Submit a Tip page.
