NJ bar owner faces liquor license loss after sex-assault scandal

⭕ Gerald Araya holds liquor licenses for four restaurants and bars in Trenton

⭕ He faces numerous counts of sexual assault, kidnapping and endangering

⭕ The AG's office will decide why the license should not be suspended

TRENTON — The owner of four restaurants charged with the sexual assaults of several former employees and a woman during a job interview is on the verge of losing his liquor license.

Gerald Araya, 44, of Ewing was charged in June with the sexual assault of several former employees and a woman during a job interview. Araya owns the Dubai Restaurant and Lounge, Catador Lounge and Restaurant, Mill Hill Restaurant and Lounge, El Catador Lounge and Restaurant and Trenton Social all in Trenton.

An investigation started in May when a "young woman" reported meeting Araya, 44 for an interview at his Dubai Restaurant, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri.

Arayra wanted the woman to see his other restaurants and took her to another bar in Trenton he owns.  Araya began making the woman drinks and having her try them so she would be able to be familiar with them when they were ordered by customers.

The woman told Araya she was not feeling well and wanted to go home, according to Onofri. Her next memory was waking up naked in a Lawrence Township hotel room "physically helpless" being sexually assaulted by Arayak, officials said.

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Obligation to prevent criminal activity

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin Monday said that the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control has sued the business to take away its license.

“We have an obligation to ensure that licensed establishments are not used in the furtherance of crime, and to protect against activity in the alcoholic beverage industry that jeopardizes the public health, safety, or welfare,” Platkin said in a statement. “The criminal conduct alleged to have occurred by the licensee directly involves the very restaurants and bars that he has been granted the privilege to serve alcoholic beverages in. Today’s action seeks to suspend those licenses to prevent any further harm or victimization at those locations.”

Araya is also charged with one count of first-degree kidnapping, six counts of second-degree sexual assault, two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

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