Suspect Charged In Armed Sexual Assault Of Woman In Camden
By Steve Beck, Cleve Bryan and David Madden
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- A man who investigators say attacked and sexually assaulted a woman in Camden earlier this month is in police custody and police say they have reason to believe he may be a serial rapist.
Reynaldo J. Nieves, 35, of Camden, is facing a long list of charges that include Aggravated Sexual Assault, Robbery, Possession of a Weapon and Aggravated Assault.
Police say Nieves is responsible for sexually assaulting two women in south Camden.
Both victims were approached on Broadway and lured to an abandoned building.
Police say in the first incident on March 26th, Nieves sexually assaulted the woman with a knife, with the second woman on April 2nd he had a gun.
Chief Scott Thomson of Camden County Police says, "It's clearly not a crime of emotion, it's not spontaneous, it's something that indicates to us that it's probably happened on more than one occasion."
Police say that there may be additional victims who have not reported similar incidents involving Nieves, including in Philadelphia.
"We have received information from other women in the city, particularly from the prostitution population, that he may have committed other acts," Thomson said.
Nieves was identified as a suspect and was arrested on April 3rd and is being held at the county jail with bail set at $500,000 cash or bond.
Thomson hopes other victims might come forward since Nieves is behind bars.
While police are checking Nieves's DNA with crime databases and trying to raise awareness, residents are worried about their own block. They say drug use and prostitution happen often in the abandoned homes.
Joanna Sweigart says, "We want these houses to come down because the safety of the children."
Luis Henriquez adds, "How we going to cope with that if we find out instead of a woman being attacked, that could be a kid being attacked too? The same way as the woman a 13-year-old, a five-year-old could be attacked. It's sad."
Anyone with information is urged to immediately contact the Special Victims Unit at 856-757-7042.
