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Cinnaminson Township Police Use Dating Site 'PlentyOfFish' To Capture Sex Assault Suspect

CINNAMINSON, N.J. (CBS) -- A Florence Township man is under arrested after he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman he lured with an online dating app, according to police.

Many people use dating sites. Some use them to make friends, others to find love. And unfortunately, neither was the case for a Philadelphia woman who police say was sexually assaulted in Cinnaminson.

Police say 22-year-old Jerell Manson attacked the woman Monday evening.

Cinnaminson Township Police Use Dating Site 'Plenty Of Fish' To Capture Sex Assault Suspect
Jerell Manson

Police say Manson used the dating site "PlentyOfFish" to meet the woman. He allegedly convinced her to get into his car before assaulting her. He let her go in a wooded area near Taylors Lane and River Road, but not before getting away with her cell phone, keys and ID, police say.

The victim flagged a passerby down and called 911 around 7:30 that night. Undercover officers were able to use the same dating site to lure Manson and arrest him Wednesday.

Eyewitness News interviewed a local woman who had used dating sites in the past and ended up marrying a person she met.

"I didn't give my phone number at first, I was like, 'I'm nervous, because I don't trust people' and he was like, 'I understand,' so he wasn't pushy and everything," Kristi Howey said.

Howey said the first time she met her husband in person was with her parents around.

Manson is currently behind bars at Burlington County Jail. He's charged with second-degree sexual assault.

Police also believe he's connected to an unsolved sexual assault in Edgewater Park in 2018.

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