Accused Aberdeen Kidnapper Of 2 Girls Due In Court Monday

ABERDEEN, NJ — The Philadelphia man accused of kidnapping two girls, ages 13 and 11, sexually assaulting at least one of them and then abandoning the girls by the side of the highway in Aberdeen this week will have his first court appearance Monday.

Benjamin Pessin, 43, of Philadelphia is currently being held at the Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township. He is scheduled to have his first court appearance at 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 11 in the Monmouth County courthouse, according to a spokesman for Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago.

At that time, a judge will decide if Pessin is let out on bail, or if he will remain behind bars. He is charged with one count of kidnapping, multiple counts of child endangerment, one count of sex assault and one count of aggravated sex assault.

Aberdeen Police say Pessin abducted the two girls in Philadelphia and drove them to Aberdeen Township. At some point, he is accused of sexually assaulting either one or both of the girls. Then, at some time before 5:00 a.m. Monday, he dropped both girls off on the side of the road along Rt. 34 in Aberdeen.

That was when the girls started knocking on front doors. Police say the girls were "trying to find a place to sleep."

A homeowner called 911. It was a man who lives in the "O" section of Aberdeen, and he wakes up early, between 3-4 a.m. every day to get to his job in construction, said Aberdeen Mayor Fred Tagliarini. (Aberdeen streets are broken up alphabetically.)

Aberdeen Police responded to the man's 911 call and located the girls walking in the dark through the streets of the "O" section. It is unknown if the girls are sisters or are related, but a woman identified as the mother of one of them picked them up from Aberdeen Police headquarters on Monday, said the mayor.

Tagliarini said the man who first called 911 "actually sent over a bunch of pizzas to Aberdeen Police headquarters yesterday (Thursday) to thank them for their great work on this. This man is so kind, he actually wants to buy the girls Christmas presents. He just cannot get over that this happened. Nobody can."

That same man also had Ring security cameras, and police were able to identify Pessin's vehicle through that camera footage, said the mayor. At 8:40 p.m. that same day, Monday, Pessin was taken into custody without incident by Aberdeen Police in the parking lot of the Aberdeen McDonalds on Rt. 34.

Tagliarini said he asked, but the man declined to speak publicly to the media about what happened. The man will likely be called as a key witness for the prosecution in this criminal case.

Neither Pessin nor the two girls have any connection to Aberdeen, said the mayor.

"No family here, no connections, nothing," said the mayor. "We are still trying to figure out how they ended up here. It's a wild story."

Initial report: PA Man Abducted 2 Girls, Left Them On Side Of Highway In Aberdeen: PD (Dec. 7)