Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Man Charged with Gun Possession, Sexual Assault on 14-year Old

Resident arrested for gun possession and aggravated sexual assault in connection to an April 3 incident in Keyport.

Updated: The story has been updated with more information released from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office on April 17.

Keyport police arrested Martin Lopez, 31, of Main Street, Keport at Tuesday and charged him with robbery, possession of a weapon, and aggravated sexual assault of a minor, among other charges. The arrest came as a result of a search warrant on April 17 carried by out Keyport police and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Forensics unit.

According to Keyport Police Chief George Casaletto, on April 3 around 9 p.m.,  Lopez pointed a gun at a 14-year old male outside his Main Street residence and robbed him of $70.  Then, according to the criminal complaint released by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, he held him in a room and performed a sexual act on the boy, and forced him to do cocaine. The complaint also said he told the victim "to say his last words and he was going to kill him if he told."

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Lopez did not have a permit for the gun, police say.

Police are not identifying the address of the house because the investigation is ongoing.

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"We couldn't identify the accused right off the bat. We had to get physical evidnce to ID the suspect," said Chief Casaletto, explaining the timeline of the arrest. He gave credit to Detectives Shanon Hyman and Joseph Rodina for the eventual arrest of Lopez. "It was their hard work that actualy broke the case," he said.

Lopez was transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Facility. Monmouth County Judge Richard English set bail at $400,000, according to police.


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