New charges brought against park 'rapist' in Middlesex County, NJ

MIDDLESEX COUNTY — Charged a week ago in multiple incidents across Somerset County, a Raritan Borough resident now faces charges in neighboring Middlesex County for an attack in late September 2021.

Middlesex County authorities said last week they would be "charging the suspect soon" in their lengthy investigation into a reported sexual assault within Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park, on the border of Plainsboro and South Brunswick, on Sept. 28, 2021.

That was subsequent to the arrest, in Raritan Borough, of Rogelio Calyeca Postrero, 38, who Somerset County prosecutors said had been observed possibly masturbating in public.

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Calyeca Postrero was charged in Somerset County not only for the lewdness incident in Raritan, but also in two alleged sexual assaults: one in the Six Mile Run area of D&R Canal Park in Franklin Township in May, and the other within Duke Island Park in Bridgewater in July 2021.

In the Middlesex County attack, prosecutors said a woman was walking "on a path adjacent to the park" when a man armed with a knife approached her, dragged her into the woods, demanded money, and then forcibly sexually assaulted her.

Investigators said they eventually determined Calyeca Postrero to be the person of interest in that encounter.

He is charged in Middlesex County with first-degree kidnapping, robbery, and two counts of aggravated sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon.

A detention hearing for the Middlesex County case is scheduled for Friday. Until then, Calyeca Postrero is held at the Somerset County Jail, according to authorities.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information can contact the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office at 732-745-3600, Plainsboro police at 609-799-2333, South Brunswick police at 732-329-4000, or middlesextips.com.

Patrick Lavery is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at patrick.lavery@townsquaremedia.com

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