Prosecutors: Man paid woman to allow him to sexually abuse young girls for years
ENGLEWOOD, New Jersey — Prosecutors say a New Jersey man paid a Philadelphia woman to allow him to sexually assault two girls for years.
Alfredo Rosales of Englewood, and Esperanza Mani-Cortez each face three counts of aggravated sexual assault, two counts each of sexual assault and child endangerment, and single counts of aggravated criminal sexual contact.
Bergen County prosecutors say they learned Friday, July 1st that the 51-year-old Rosales might be engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl. They say an investigation determined Rosales had been sexually assaulting the 14-year-old and a 12-year-old girl since 2010.
Authorities wouldn't say whether Rosales or the 44-year-old Mani-Cortez was related to the children. They say Mani-Cortez made the girls available in return for "financial compensation."
Listed phone numbers weren't available for them. It's unclear if they have attorneys.
Below is the complete news release issued in this case by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office:
Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced the arrests of 51-year-old ALFREDO ROSALES of 259 Howland Avenue, Second Floor, Englewood, New Jersey, and 44-year-old ESPERANZA MANI-CORTEZ of 62007 South 7th Street, Apartment 1, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (DOB: 07/19/1971) on July 2, 2016 on charges of Aggravated Sexual Assault, Sexual Assault, Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. The arrests were the result of a joint investigation by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Special Victims Unit and the Englewood Police Department.
On the evening of Friday, July 1, 2016, the Englewood Police Department received information that ALFREDO ROSALES may be engaged in sexual activity with a fourteen-year-old girl, who was in his company at the time. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit and the Englewood Police Department subsequently initiated an investigation and discovered that ROSALES was engaging in sexual activity with two juvenile females – the fourteen-year-old girl, who was in his company at the time, and a 12-year-old girl, who was not with him at the time – and had been since 2010. The investigation further revealed that ESPERANZA MANI-CORTEZ made the two juvenile females available to ROSALES so that he could sexually assault them, and received financial compensation from ROSALES in exchange.
As a result of the investigation, on Saturday, July 2, 2016, ALFREDO ROSALES and ESPERANZA MANI-CORTEZ were arrested and were each charged with three counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault, two counts of Sexual Assault by Sexual Contact, one count of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact and two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
The Honorable Gregg Padovano, J.S.C. of Bergen County Superior Court set ALFREDO ROSALES’s bail at $500,000 with no 10 percent option. He is to have no contact with the victims and must surrender his passport as conditions of bail. Judge Padovano set ESPERANZA MANI-CORTEZ’S bail at $300,000.00 with no 10 percent option and also ordered her to have no contact with the victims and to surrender her passport as conditions of bail. ROSALES and MANI-CORTEZ were both remanded to the Bergen County Jail in lieu of bail.
They are scheduled to make their first appearances on July 5th.
Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Grewal states that the charges are merely accusations and that the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.