Man Charged With Sexual Assault Of 'Physically Helpless Person' In Jersey City

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — A Jersey City man has been charged with the sexual assault of a woman in a Jersey City building last month, including a charge of "sexual assault on a physically helpless person."

The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit arrested Vernard Doe, 43, on Friday, charging him with the assault of a 29-year-old woman on June 20, inside of a building on Martin Luther King Drive.

"The defendant was familiar with the victim," said the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office.

Doe has been charged with aggravated sexual assault on a physically helpless person, aggravated assault, sexual assault by force or coercion, and aggravated sexual assault during the commission of an aggravated assault.

By law, a person is considered "physically helpless" if they are, at the time of the assault, "incapable of providing consent. Physically helpless means that condition in which a person is unconscious or is physically unable to flee or is physically unable to communicate unwillingness to act."

He was arrested at the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office in Secaucus and taken to the Hudson County Correctional Facility pending his first court appearance.

The state has filed a Detention Motion, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, July 19.

Prosecutor Suarez credited the Special Victims Unit with the investigation and arrest, with
assistance from the Jersey City Police Department. Anyone wishing to report a sex crime should
call the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Special Victims Unit (SVU) at 201-915-1234.