Eatontown man arrested in Sea Bright for luring 13-year old girls

A Sea Bright officer witnessed Cohen in the back seat of his vehicle with his arms around the two juvenile victims.

FREEHOLD –   A 27 year old Eatontown resident has been charged with luring two 13 year old girls into his vehicle with the purpose of sexually assaulting them, announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Nathan Cohen, 27, of Eatontown, is charged with first degree kidnapping, second degree child luring,  third degree endangering the welfare of a child, third degree possession of child pornography and third degree aggravated criminal sexual contact.   The charges stem from an incident which occurred during the early morning hours of Monday, February 15th when Sea Bright Police located a running vehicle parked on a dead end street in the Borough.  A Sea Bright officer then witnessed Cohen in the back seat of his vehicle with his arms around the two juvenile victims.  Further investigation revealed that Cohen represented himself to be a 17-year-old boy to the minors and exchanged sexually explicit images and videos with them, and arranging to see the victims in person.

This case was jointly investigated by members of the Sea Bright Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victim’s Bureau.

Cohen was taken into custody immediately at the scene, and was later transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold Township pending a detention hearing.

If convicted, the defendant is facing up to life imprisonment on the kidnapping charge, up to ten years imprisonment on the child luring charge, and up to 5 years imprisonment on the endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated criminal sexual contact and possession of child pornography charges respectively.  In addition, he would be subject to parole supervision for life and required to register under Megan’s Law.

Investigators are seeking additional information about Cohen’s activities.  Anyone with any information please contact Detective Michelle Tucker of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victim’s Bureau at 800-533-7443 or Sea Bright Police Department Detective Sergeant Richard Huegel at 732-842-0010.

Anyone who feels the need to remain anonymous, but who has information about a crime can submit a tip to Monmouth County Crime Stoppers by calling their confidential telephone tipline at 1-800-671-4400; by downloading and using the free P3 Tips mobile app (available on iOS and Android – https://www.p3tips.com/1182), by calling 800-671-4400 or by going to their website at www.monmouthcountycrimestoppers.com.

Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendants have all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.

The case is assigned to Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Ryan Lavender of the Office’s Special Victims Bureau.