Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:
On Tuesday, May 25, 2021, members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit arrested Mario Villa, age 62, of West New York, on charges that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl on multiple occasions when she was between the ages of eight and 10.
Villa has been charged with two counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2A(1), a crime of the first degree; Sexual Assault in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2B, a crime of the second degree; Endangering the Welfare of a Child in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4A(1), a crime of the second degree; and Attempted Aggravated Sexual Assault in violation N.J.S.A. 2C:5-1 and 2C:14-2A(1), a crime of the second degree. Villa was arrested at the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office in Jersey City just after 12:15 p.m. without incident.
The Special Victims Unit was notified by the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency last month and launched an investigation in the assaults, which occurred between 2016 and 2018 while the defendant shared an apartment with the victim and her mother.
A detention hearing for Villa is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, June 1, 2021.
Prosecutor Suarez credited the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit for the investigation and arrest.
Anyone wishing to report a sex crime should call the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit (SVU) at 201-915-1234. The above charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. R.P.C.3.6(b)(6).
