BCPO: HOMASASSA, FLORIDA MAN CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT AND ENDANGERING THE WELFARE OF A CHILD

Press release from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office:

Maureen Parenta

2022-02-15

For Immediate Release:

February 15, 2022

Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrest of FRANCISCO BARRERA-CAPISTRAN (DOB: 10/04/1985; married; contractor) of Homasassa, FL on aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault by contact and endangering the welfare of a child charges. The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Jason Love and the Hackensack Police Department under the direction of Officer in Charge Captain Darrin DeWitt.

On Monday, January 17, 2022, the Hackensack Police Department contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit regarding the alleged sexual assault of two children. An investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Hackensack Police Department revealed that FRANCISCO BARRERA-CAPISTRAN sexually assaulted the children, who were both younger than 13 years old, in Hackensack and Westwood, NJ.

As a result of the investigation, on Monday, February 14, 2022, FRANCISCO BARRERA-CAPISTRAN was arrested in Westwood, NJ and charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2a(1); second-degree sexual assault by contact, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2b; and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4a(1). BARRERA-CAPISTRAN was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending his first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, NJ.

Prosecutor Musella states that the charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and he would like to thank the Hackensack Police Department and the Westwood Police Department for their assistance in this investigation.

This press release was produced by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. The views expressed here are the author’s own.