NJ Registered Sex Offender Assaulted Missing NYC Teen, Court Documents Say

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A man in Fort Lee who picked up a teen girl in Manhattan and sexually assaulted her over the weekend was a registered sex offender, according to court documents in the case.

The complaint in the case says that Marc Piovanetti, 58, of Fort Lee met the teen girl on a dating app, picked her up in New York City on Saturday, and brought her to his apartment at 328 Bridge Plaza. He asked her to perform sex acts on him, the documents state.

After the girl's mother reported her missing to the New York police on Saturday, the document states, the girl communicated with her mother via text from Piovanetti's cell phone. Police were able to "ping" the phone and find her, the documents state.

Piovanetti, along with Jennifer Piovanetti, 50, was charged Sunday with endangering the welfare of a child.

Marc Piovanetti was also charged with four counts of sexual assault, said the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutors said Monday that Fort Lee police found the child, who is between age 13 and 16, "in the company of Marc Piovanetti and Jennifer Piovanetti."

Investigators determined that Marc Piovanetti, a stranger to the victim, began talking to the girl on TurnUp, a social media application, and made arrangements to meet.

Prosecutors said he provided the girl with marijuana and sexually assaulted her in his living room between Saturday and Sunday.

Detectives determined that Jennifer Piovanetti "was at home in the same residence at the time of the incident, and she was aware of the child’s presence, along with another child under the age of 13 who was also there," prosecutors said Monday.

Marc Piovanetti was charged with four counts of second-degree sexual assault, second-degree luring, second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and two counts of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, prosecutors said.

He was placed into the custody of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, pending a first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack, prosecutors said.

Jennifer Piovanetti was charged with second-degree and third-degree endangering and also placed into the custody of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, to await a first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack.

The investigation is ongoing, prosecutors said.

Any parent or guardian who determines that their child received inappropriate online communications from Marc Piovanetti may contact the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Tips Line at (201) 226-5532.