Sex Offender Accused Of Sexually Assaulting 14-Year-Old In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River man who is a convicted sex offender is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl on Sunday after he offered her a ride when she was lost, authorities said.

Keith M. Hahn, 46, was arrested Tuesday at his home, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Authorities said the girl told authorities she was walking along Route 70 in Manchester Township on Sunday when she realized she was lost. A man driving a white Jeep Grand Cherokee stopped and talked with her, and she asked him to give her a ride to the animal shelter in Toms River, authorities said.

Instead the man — later identified as Hahn — drove her to another area in Toms River and sexually assaulted her, the girl told authorities. He then drove the girl to the Walmart on Route 37 in Toms River, where she got out, ran home and contacted Manchester police, authorities said.

Investigators were able to determine Hahn was the person who had assaulted girl, the prosecutor's office said, and he was arrested at his home while detectives executed court-authorized search warrants on his home and vehicle.

Hahn has been charged with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, kidnapping, luring, and endangering the welfare of a child and is being held at the Ocean County Jail in Toms River pending a detention hearing.

Hahn is a Tier II sex offender, according to the New Jersey State Police sex offender registry. He was convicted in 1995 of "sexual assault with penetration," and the registry says he isolated his victims and assaulted them.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, High Tech Crime Unit and Megan’s Law Squad, the Toms River Police Department and its Detective Bureau, the Manchester Township Police Department, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit combined in the investigation.