North Jersey Cop Charged With Attempted Sexual Assault

VERNON TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Vernon Township police officer faces numerous charges after allegedly groping and attempting to sexually assault a woman after interacting with her in his official capacity as an on-duty officer in 2019.

Officer Emanuel Rivera, 37, of Vernon Township, was indicted Tuesday, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General said in a news release.

He was charged with three counts of second-degree official misconduct, second-degree pattern of official misconduct, second-degree attempted sexual assault, and fourth-degree criminal sexual contact.

Rivera is also charged in connection with two alleged incidents in 2014 and 2015 in which he improperly used his position to obtain the phone numbers of female motorists, according to the Attorney General's Office.

An investigation by the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office found that on May 11, 2019, Rivera met the woman and her ex-boyfriend when he responded to a call at a Vernon Township residence.

The woman had told the responding officers that she would be sleeping in a certain area of Vernon that night. She decided to sleep in her car after she was unable to contact a friend, and shortly after parking her car was allegedly approached by Rivera, who was still on duty.

"Rivera allegedly made inappropriate sexual remarks to the woman and groped her. Rivera then allegedly directed the victim to follow his patrol vehicle, and he led the woman in her car to an abandoned church in Vernon, where he parked behind the church," the Attorney General's Office said. "Rivera allegedly approached the victim and directed her to exit her car. Rivera then allegedly groped the victim again and attempted to sexually assault the victim."

After the incident, Rivera returned to work and the victim immediately reported the alleged assault to a friend.

"We have zero tolerance for law enforcement officers who abuse their authority and engage in this type of predatory behavior," Thomas Eicher, director of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, said in a statement. "We urge victims and others with information about such misconduct to contact us."

The Sussex County Prosecutor's Office charged Rivera by complaint with official misconduct and criminal sexual contact in 2020 in connection with the alleged 2019 incident after a referral from the Vernon Township Police Department, the Attorney General's Office said.

After charging Rivera in connection with the 2019 incident, the same office investigated allegations that two other women had been subject to advances by Rivera after he obtained their cellphone numbers while serving as a police officer in late 2014 and June or July 2015, according to the Attorney General's Office.

"All law enforcement officers have a sacred trust to the public to protect them and to uphold the law,” Francis A. Koch, Sussex County Prosecutor, said in a statement. "Any deviation from this sworn duty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the full extent possible."

The full indictment can be found here.