Girl, 6, is raped at home during a prayer service, cops say

🔴 A Trenton man is accused of sexually assaulting a little girl

🔴 It occurred during a home prayer service

🔴 The child was sleeping when the attack happened, police say

TRENTON — A Mercer County man has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a 6-year-old child during a prayer service two days before Christmas, according to the County Prosecutor’s Office.

Investigators said Jose Agustin-Hernandez, 51, of Trenton, was charged with one count of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, one count of second-degree criminal sexual contact, and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

According to the complaint and affidavit, during a prayer service at an in-home chapel on Hamilton Avenue on Dec. 23, a man went into a room where the little girl was sleeping and sexually assaulted her.

The child ran out of the room crying and told a family member what had happened, according to the complaint in the case. People inside the house tried to chase down the man who ran out the door and down to the corner where they lost sight of him, the complaint in the case indicated.

Detectives with the Trenton police department and the prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit spent the next few days interviewing witnesses and collecting and reviewing video surveillance footage from various locations.

They identified Agustin-Hernandez as the suspect.

He was arrested in Trenton on Dec. 29. The prosecutor’s office has filed a motion to keep Agustin-Hernandez locked up until trial.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Michael Wherley or Sgt. Sherika Salmon at 609-989-6568 or mcposvu@mercercounty.org.

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