Man Charged in Christmas Eve Abduction, Sex Assault in Union County

A Bergen County man abducted a woman at gunpoint as she arrived for work at a Linden department store on Route 1 on Christmas Eve, according to acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park.

Joseph Defreitas, 42, of East Rutherford was charged Monday with carjacking, kidnapping, robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and two counts of aggravated sexual assault in connection with the 2012 incident. Bail was set at $650,000.

Prosecutors said the woman arrived for an early-morning shift at the store on Route 1 when she was accosted by a masked man brandishing a gun. Defreitas allegedly forced the woman into the passenger's seat while he entered the driver's seat. He then ordered the woman direct him to an ATM where she could withdraw money to give him, according to prosecutors. 

Instead, Defreitas allegedly drove to an unknown location and forced the woman to perform a sex act. He then drove her back to the department store parking lot, threatened to kill her, and fled the scene, authorities said.

The charges were served to Defreitas in Morris County Jail, where he has been in custody on charges stemming from a Parsippany-Troy Hills abduction case.

In that incident, prosecutors said Defreitas and 52-year-old Marilyn Nadeau of East Rutherford abducted a 71-year-old New Hampshire woman on Dec. 29, 2012--less than a week after the reported Linden abduction. The pair allegedly forced the woman to withdraw money from an ATM machine and put her into the trunk of her own car. The woman freed herself and reported the incident to police.

Additional charges against Defreitas are pending in Connecticut in connection with a series of robberies and home invasions.