25 years later, NJ man sentenced for Mount Laurel sexual assault

More than 25 years since a home invasion and sexual assault in Mount Laurel, the man responsible is finally doing time.

Rodolfo Vasquez, 63, had been getting away with the crime for decades, until a traffic stop in 2019 led to a DNA profile that connected him to the 1997 assault.

Vasquez, a Pennsauken resident, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Vasquez pleaded guilty in June 2022 to first-degree aggravated sexual assault. He admitted to entering a home on Camber Lane in June 1997 without permission and sexually assaulting a woman who was there by herself.

According to the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, the victim received permanent vision damage in one eye as a result of Vasquez hitting her when she tried to defend herself.

According to the original investigation, the woman heard a noise in her home and got out of bed to check on it. A male, now identified as Vasquez, confronted her in the bedroom doorway and grabbed her.

He told the victim not to call the police, and then fled the residence. Because the assault occurred in the dark, the victim was unable to provide a detailed description of the attacker, according to the prosecutor's office.

According to officials, Vasquez forced open a rear sliding glass door to access the home.

How Rodolfo Vasquez was eventually caught

Investigators recovered evidence at the scene, and the victim agreed to have a sexual assault examination performed at a hospital.

The biological evidence generated a DNA profile, but no suspect was identified when it was entered into a national database.

Many years later, in August 2020, Mount Laurel police were notified that there was a match.

Vasquez had been required to submit a DNA sample after pleading guilty to driving without a license in 2019 in Cinnaminson.

To be certain, another DNA sample was collected from Vasquez, and it also matched the one collected during the investigation in 1997.

Dino Flammia is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com

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