Man with history of child-rape charges busted AGAIN by NJ cops

ELIZABETH — Police on Friday once again arrested a man with who has been repeatedly accused of sexual crimes against children.

Jair Ramirez was busted about 9:30 p.m. after police publicly declared he was wanted on charges of threatening a 15-year-old girl at gun point on Sept. 15.

He also was wanted for questioning in an incident Friday morning in which a man exposed his genitals to a 10-year-old girl and then tried to lure her into an alley on Orchard Street. The girl likely was saved by a neighbor who intervened and scared off the man, police said.

Ramirez had not been charged with that incident Saturday morning.

The arrest comes the same week that authorities in the same county revealed that at least six girls in Linden, Roselle and Kenilworth had reported being grabbed or lured by a stranger near their school. The State Police released a composite sketch of the man in the Roselle incidents.

Court records and published reports reveal Ramirez's troubling past in at least two states.

In 2001 he was accused of breaking into a home and raping a little girl at knifepoint in her bedroom. The girl's father awoke to the girl's cries and scared off Ramirez, authorities said. While he was awaiting trial, a cuffed and shackled Ramirez managed to escape from custody, reports said at the time. It was not clear Saturday the outcome of that case.

But in New Jersey, prosecutors dismissed charges of sexual assault against a child younger than 13 in 2012 after Ramirez copped a plea to fourth-degree lewdness. He spent little more than 200 days behind bars and was sentenced to three years of probation, court records show.

In 1997, he was sentenced to two years of probation after serving 91 days in jail on a burglary charge.

It was not clear Saturday whether Ramirez had an attorney.

Anyone with more information should call Elizabeth police Det. Yohara Barrios at 908-558-2103.

Sergio Bichao is deputy digital editor at New Jersey 101.5. Send him news tips: Call 609-438-1015 or email sergio.bichao@townsquaremedia.com.