New Jersey State Police Officer Accused of Groping Teen at State College Hotel

A New Jersey State Police officer was charged on Thursday for the alleged indecent assault of a teenage girl at a State College hotel.

According to a criminal complaint filed by State College police, 45-year-old David De Jesus is accused of allowing the 14-year-old to drink alcohol and then groping her bare breast on April 22 in his room at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center.

De Jesus and the girl’s family were both in State College for a wrestling tournament. A friend invited the girl to the Ramada to go swimming, police wrote.

The girl told police that De Jesus, who was sitting poolside, was drunk and told her he could drink a beer in his room.

De Jesus entered the room shortly after her and was “asking weird questions,” including how old she was, she told police. He allegedly kept insisting that she was 18.

Police wrote that after groping the girl, he told her to leave the room a few minutes after him “so nobody would think anything happened.”

De Jesus was charged with a third-degree felony count of unlawful contact with a minor-sexual offenses, two second-degree misdemeanor counts of indecent assault and a third-degree misdemeanor count of furnishing alcohol to minors.

He was arraigned by District Judge Don Hahn on Thursday and released on $27,500 unsecured bail.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.