Trenton cop charged with child sex assault
TRENTON » A city cop has been arrested on allegations he sexually assaulted a minor.
Trenton Police Officer William L. Sanchez-Monllor, 36, of Burlington Township, could remain jailed without bail after getting charged with aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
Sanchez-Monllor, a Trenton Police Warrant Unit detective, is accused of committing an act of sexual penetration with a victim at least 13 but less than 16 years old.
According to the statutes he was charged under, Sanchez-Monllor had a legal duty or assumed responsibility for the care of a child who was molested under his care. The police detective is accused of engaging in sexual conduct which would “impair or debauch the morals of the child.”
Details on the allegations were sketchy, but online court documents say Sanchez-Monllor sexually assaulted a child under his care in Burlington Township on Aug. 10, 2014. Burlington County authorities announced the charges against him on Wednesday via press release, saying the abuse occurred on multiple occasions in Burlington County.
Scott Coffina, Burlington County’s prosecutor, released little information about the sexual assaults. Specific details about the assaults, such as when and where exactly the child molestation occurred, were sealed by a Superior Court judge, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
The Burlington Township Police Department arrested Sanchez-Monllor on Tuesday, charging him with two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday filed a detention motion against Sanchez-Monllor, which suggests the prosecution wants him to remain jailed without bail pending final resolution of his case.
Defense attorney Jennifer L. Gottschalk represented Sanchez-Monllor at his first appearance in court Wednesday, she confirmed.
“The state moved to detain him,” she said Wednesday in an interview with The Trentonian. “By doing so, his release was not possible today.”
A detention hearing has been scheduled for Friday, but Gottschalk said she has not been retained to represent Sanchez-Monllor at that hearing. The police officer could hire a private attorney or choose to be represented by a public defender.
Sanchez-Monllor could face up to 20 years in state prison if convicted on firstdegree aggravated sexual assault, and could be incarcerated much longer if convicted on all counts at trial.
A Trenton cop since March 2010, Sanchez-Monllor collects about $102,000 in annual salary, according to state pension records. He has been suspended with pay pending an internal affairs investigation, a Trenton Police spokesman said Wednesday.
The second-degree sexual assault charges against Sanchez-Monllor accuse him of committing an act of sexual penetration with another person at least 16 but less than 18 years old. That victim was a child under his care.
The prosecutor’s office said Sanchez-Monllor was charged with “sexually assaulting a minor” and that the “abuse occurred on multiple occasions in Burlington County.” Although details on each assault have been sealed, it appears Sanchez-Monllor is being accused of molesting a child under his care beginning when the child was between the ages of 13 and 16 — first-degree aggravated sexual assault — and molesting that child again on subsequent occasions as the child got older.
Burlington County Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Eife will be prosecuting Sanchez-Monllor on behalf of the state. The case is being investigated by detectives from the Burlington Township Police Department and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
The case against Sanchez-Monllor will likely be presented to a grand jury in the coming months, according to the prosecutor’s office. He will lose his job as a police officer if he pleads guilty or gets convicted by a jury of his peers.
Sanchez-Monllor lives on the 600 block of Neck Road in Burlington Township. Tax records list him as one of the owners of the property.