Man Accused Of Violent Monmouth Sex Assault Released: Report

FREEHOLD, NJ — A man accused of choking and sexually assaulting a woman and then threatening her with a hammer during a Union Beach home invasion has been released from jail by a Monmouth County judge to await trial, according to a report.

The Asbury Park Press report said Justin C. Broyles, 33, of Walnut Drive, Brick, was released Friday by Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman, who ordered him released for the second time.

Broyles is accused of breaking into a Union Beach home and beating, choking and sexually assaulting a woman there in September, according to the report. Bauman initially released Broyles Dec. 27 to await trial, but an appeal by the Monmouth County prosecutor's office was upheld while Bauman held an addtional hearing on detaining Broyles, the report said.

The release is one of several that have been contentious under New Jersey's bail reform system that was instituted a year ago. The intent of the reform was to ensure people were not held in jail for months on low-level offenses simply due to a lack of financial means, while at the same time ensuring those accused of violent crimes were not released just because they could pay the bail.

But there have been a number of cases where prosecutors objected to the release of those accused of crimes because of concern they posed an ongoing danger. Last January, the release of Christopher Wilson, 21, of Little Egg Harbor, a convicted pedophile who was acused of trying to lure a 12-year-old girl with a promise of a gaming system, prompted the Little Egg Harbor police chief to issue a warning to the township's residents. Wilson was returned to jail in late March to stand trial; he pleaded guilty in the case in September but his attorney filed a motion in December to retract the guilty plea, according to an Asbury Park Press report.

Broyles was released Friday to await trial; he is under house arrest and must wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, plus his parents must make sure he takes his medication for bipolar disorder, according to the report.

Read more about Broyles's detention hearings here.

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