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Four Passaic homeless men accused of gang rape
Saturday, March 17, 2007

By NAVID IQBAL
HERALD NEWS


PASSAIC -- Four homeless men are facing felony charges in connection with the rape of a 21-year-old Wallington woman on the banks of the Passaic River Wednesday night, police said Friday.

Investigators believe at least a dozen men were at the scene of the assault, according to a statement taken from the victim, who told police she was supposed to meet someone she met on a popular Web site two weeks earlier, Detective Andy White said.

Police believe all four suspects are Mexican nationals, though their immigration status is questionable. The suspects taken into custody range in age from 21 to 36. All are homeless and unemployed, White said.

Few details were released about how the homeless men were able to access an Internet site. Police would not say if the men were actually the ones communicating with the victim in the weeks before Wednesday because that matter is still under investigation, White said.

After repeated assaults over a number of hours, the victim walked a short distance from where she was assaulted to police headquarters on Passaic Street to report the crime at about 7 a.m. Thursday, White said.

Detectives and officers went to the crime scene after taking the woman's account and arrested four men who were identified by the victim: Oscar Juarez, 36; Misael Calixto, 25; Cherro Sala, 21; and Fermin Panteleon, 32. All four suspects are facing first-degree sexual assault charges, and were being held on $500,000 bail each Friday night in the Passaic County Jail.

"There might have been more subjects at that location but these were the four that were identified as sexually assaulting the victim," White said.

The woman, whose name was not released by authorities, told police she had been chatting with someone on myspace.com for about two weeks. The woman never knew what the other person looked like because that individual did not post a picture, White said.

The two set a date to meet at Passaic and Columbia streets near Route 21 at 11 p.m. The woman told police that she walked to the location from her Wallington home. A man met her there and said he would take her to see her Internet buddy. The woman walked beneath the Route 21 overpass and to the riverbank, where about a dozen men were congregated, White said.

"When they got to the location, the males at the site said 'Let's have a party,'" White said. "The victim was there for quite some time. During the course of that partying, she was sexually assaulted by four of the (men)."

Detectives are unsure if drugs or alcohol were involved, pending further investigation, White said.

The area where the assault occurred is known for occasionally attracting loiterers and homeless people, White said. "Anytime we get reports of people congregating in the area, we respond immediately and clear that area," he said.

The victim was treated and released at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson on Thursday morning, police said.

Detective Joseph Irizarry is investigating the case.

Anyone with information concerning this case is urged to call the Passaic Police Department at 973-365-3935.

Reach Navid Iqbal at 973-569-7165 or iqbal@northjersey.com.



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