Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray announced today that the Honorable Judge Peter Ryan, J.S.C., sentenced Robert Johnson, 46, of Newark to eight years in New Jersey State Prison for sexually assaulting a developmentally delayed 14-year-old girl in the bathroom at a Rutgers University library in Newark.
On Feb. 24, 2011, three days after being released from state prison and while still wearing an ankle bracelet monitor, Johnson engaged the victim in a conversation at Penn Station in Newark and lured her to the library where he attacked her in the men’s bathroom of the Dana Library at approximately 12:30 p.m. He then walked her back to the train station.
An alert female police officer thought the girl was behaving strangely and began to question her, according to Assistant Prosecutor Gigi Scoles, who handled the sentencing. The victim told the officer what occurred and Johnson was arrested.
Judge Ryan sentenced Johnson to eight years in state prison and ordered lifetime supervision under Megan’s Law, the state law which requires potentially dangerous sex offenders to register with law enforcement.
Prior to this offense, Johnson had 19 arrests and 10 indictable convictions. He served time in state prison on four prior occasions.
