New Jersey man sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting young mother at knifepoint after 10-year trial delay

An Irvington resident has been sentenced to more than 34 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman he trailed home in 2015, according to the Essex County Prosecutors Office.

Kervin Joseph-Michel, 43, received a prison term of 34 and a half years on November 21. He was convicted in February 2024 on first-degree charges of kidnapping and sexual assault against a 21-year-old mother, following a decade-long delay caused by questions about his mental fitness to stand trial.

Authorities reported that on November 4, 2015, Joseph-Michel followed the woman after she rejected his attempts to talk while she was carrying her three-week-old baby. Once inside her home, he brandished a gun and forced her into the foyer, sexually assaulting her at knifepoint. During the assault, the woman placed her baby on the floor nearby, according to her testimony.

When the woman heard her boyfriends car, she deceived Joseph-Michel into thinking she was going to close the front door. She then retrieved her baby and ran toward the door. As the boyfriend entered, Joseph-Michel attacked him with the knife before fleeing on foot.

Investigators matched Joseph-Michels DNA with samples taken from the victim and the knife used in the assault. His DNA also corresponded with evidence from three unsolved sexual assaults in Newark and Irvington, prosecutors stated.

The trial faced delays for nearly ten years due to repeated determinations that Joseph-Michel was not competent to stand trial. An attorney for Joseph-Michel has not yet provided a comment.

Read the original article on NJ.com.

Author: Sophia Brooks